Belgian state held accountable for colonial-era abduction of mixed-race children

The Brussels Court of Appeal on Monday held the state accountable for the systematic abduction of "metis" children, those of mixed European and African heritage, from their mothers during the colonial era in Belgian Congo.

The case was brought by five women who were forcibly separated from their mothers in the Belgian Congo before the age of seven. The court found that their abductions were part of a deliberate and systematic plan orchestrated by the Belgian state to remove children born to black mothers and white fathers from their families.

"Their abduction is an inhumane and persecutory act constituting a crime against humanity under the principles of international law," the court said in a press statement.

The Belgian state was ordered to compensate the plaintiffs for the moral damages they suffered. These include the profound loss of connection to their mothers, the disruption of their identities and the severing of ties to their cultural heritage.

The ruling overturned a 2021 one that had determined that the case was time-barred.

In 2019, Belgium issued its first official apology for the abduction of thousands of mixed-race children from Congo between 1959 and 1962, acknowledging its role in the segregation policy that placed "metis" children in Catholic-run schools and orphanages in Belgium.