Though France has quite a few complicated relationships with certain African countries, one African nation that is not a former French colony has especially tenuous relationship with France: Rwanda.
During the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi ethnic minority, French military forces in the region didn’t exactly live up to their job description of protecting and serving. Now, 25 years later, French president Emmanuel Macron wants to make up for this failure by launching an investigation in order to “analyze the role and involvement of France” in the genocide. The idea is that this investigation would help school teachers better shape history curriculum in French schools, while also allowing the government to weed out individuals directly involved in the massacre who may have fled to France following the violent series of events in Rwanda.
Macron also plans to make April 7, the anniversary of the genocide’s bloody beginning, a national day of remembrance. Macron met with several survivors of the massacre this weekend at the Élysée Palace, as Rwanda continues a series of commemorations both at home and abroad.
