Belgium ordered to pay reparations for colonial kidnappings in Congo

Mixed-race children were forcibly removed from their families under a state policy in the 1940s.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS ElectionUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersBelgium ordered to pay reparations for colonial kidnappingsGetty ImagesSimone Vandenbroeck (l) and Léa Tavares Mujinga are two of the five women who have won their case for reparationsA Belgium court has ordered the government to pay reparations to five mixed-race women who were forcibly removed from their families in the colonial-era Belgian Congo.

The women, now in their 70s, were taken from their mothers when they were young children and placed in orphanages under a state policy.

The court said the government had a "plan to systematically search for and abduct children born to a black mother and a white father".

On Monday judges called this a crime against humanity and said the kidnappings were "an inhumane act of persecution".

The Belgium government in 2019 issued a formal apology to an estimated 20,000 victims of forced family separations in DR Congo, as well as Burundi and Rwanda.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3l1w2pn9go

---