A historic court ruling that found Belgium guilty of crimes against humanity during its colonial rule in Central Africa has been hailed as a turning point that could pave the way for reparations and other forms of justice.
Last month, the Belgian Court of Appeal ruled that the “systematic abduction” of mixed-race children from African mothers in Belgian-ruled Congo, Rwanda and Burundi was a crime against humanity. The lawsuit was brought by five women who were separated from their Congolese mothers as infants between 1948 and 1953 and now live in Belgium and France. Each was awarded €50,000 (£42,000) in damages.
Colonial-era policies affected thousands of Métis people with African mothers and European fathers, whom the Belgian empire deemed a threat to the white supremacist order. They were moved hundreds of miles away to live in unsympathetic religious institutions, with meager rations and inadequate education, and many lost all contact with their mothers.
François Milliex, president of the Belgian Métis Association, said the decision “certainly opens the door” for people seeking financial compensation for forced separation from their parents.
Milliex immigrated to Belgium in 1960 at the age of 14, and after being separated from the rest of his siblings, he and his two siblings were soon sent to an orphanage. The family split, even though Miliex’s Rwandan mother and Belgian father were both alive, recognized, and wanted to care for the child. The following year, he was stripped of his Belgian citizenship, becoming stateless and unable to leave the country. As an adult, he spent one month of his salary paying to regain his Belgian citizenship.
“Most Métis people who were relocated to Belgium regret that the state did not offer financial compensation for their suffering and pain,” he said. “There are people who are still struggling with this separation and loss of identity, trying to understand why they were separated from their mothers and why their fathers didn’t accept them. But some of them have questions like this.” It is a real pain in the heart of every Métis. ”
Michelle Hirsch, a lawyer who represented the five women, believes the court’s decision opens the door to compensation for her clients and others in similar situations, but she doubts the prospects. He said that he is throwing. “I think we have to fight to make that happen,” she said.
Photo: Francisco Seco/AP
Belgium’s then-Prime Minister Charles Michel apologized on behalf of the country for the abduction of mixed-race children in 2019, and the country later that year gave victims access to official archives to help trace their family origins. We have started our efforts. Many children lost contact with their families because colonial authorities unilaterally changed or misspelled their names.
But unlike other countries, such as Australia and Canada, which face liability for similar treatment of indigenous peoples, Belgium has resisted demands for financial compensation.
Resolution Metis, a national research agency that facilitates access to archives, is investigating how many people were affected by the policy, but says it is impossible to give a definitive answer. states.
Hundreds of mixed-race children are believed to have been forcibly relocated to Belgium between 1960 and 1962, when Congo, Rwanda and Burundi became independent, but the majority of state abductees were in central Africa. remained in
Geneviève Kaninda of the NGO African Futures Lab, which works with victims of state kidnapping in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Burundi, says the Belgian government has long overlooked them.
The court’s decision “could be a turning point for people in the Great Lakes region to get justice if they want it,” she said. Victims of the policy, both mothers who lost their children and those whose children were taken away, could use the court’s ruling in any attempt to obtain compensation from the Belgian government, she suggested.
The group also calls for greater recognition of women forced to hand over their infant children to the state. They were often teenagers, sometimes as young as 14 or 15, when they were conceived by European colonialists in their 30s, 40s, or 50s. Some died without ever being reunited with their children or knowing where they had been taken.
Nesrine Malik and Jason Okundei bring you weekly coverage of black life and culture from around the world
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may include information about charities, online advertising, and content sponsored by external parties. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and are subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
After newsletter promotion
Kaninda said victims of policies in the Great Lakes region also face serious obstacles when investigating their past, including extreme difficulty obtaining visas to travel to Belgium for archival research and DNA testing. He said that African Futures Lab argues that all mixed-race people who came under the patronage of the Belgian state during colonial times should be able to obtain Belgian citizenship if they wish.
The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is in charge of the case, said: “The Belgian government has not yet decided on its position regarding the follow-up to this judgment of the Court of Appeal.” This judgment is still being analyzed. ”
The government can appeal to the country’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, but only on legal grounds.
Jeremiah Vervoordt, a legal scholar at the Free University of Bruxelles (ULB), said the court’s decision is historic for Belgium, as it is “virtually the first time a state has been found guilty of a colonial crime”. said.
In contrast to other Western countries, Belgium has been reluctant to offer reparations, he said. He said states could follow Australia’s treatment of the Stolen Generations by passing legislation to compensate everyone affected by the policy.
Alternatively, Belgium could wait for individuals to claim, but that approach would disadvantage those who lack documentation, Vervoord said. “Proving that they were actually kidnapped or quarantined will be difficult for people with less documentation at their disposal,” he said. “All mixed-race people should have equal access to documentation related to them. Not that there is.”
The Belgian Métis Association hopes that the court’s decision will raise awareness of an episode in its history that it believes is not yet widely known. The company is preparing a teaching kit containing written materials and video testimonies for teachers in the hope that it will be adopted by Belgian schools.
From Milliex’s experience visiting schools, there is much work to be done. “When I ask[students]what the Congo was or what the colonies were, they say things like, ‘Belgium built big roads, schools and hospitals.’ No one ever talks about Métis,” he says. says.
