Belgian court ruling on forced separation of mixed-race children may pave way for reparations.

A Belgian court recently ruled that the forced separation of mixed-race children during Belgium’s colonial era constitutes a crime against humanity, according to The Guardian.

The landmark case was brought by five mixed-race women who were taken from their Congolese mothers as children between 1948 and 1953. Now residing in France and Belgium, the women represent thousands of children who endured similar fates under colonial policies. Most of these children were sent to religious institutions in Africa and never saw their mothers again, while a smaller number were relocated to Belgium. This practice aimed to discourage relationships between Belgian men and African women, seen at the time as a threat to white supremacy.

In 2019, Belgium’s then-Prime Minister Charles Michel issued a formal apology for these acts. A program was then introduced to grant mixed-race individuals access to national archives, enabling them to research their ancestry.

François Milliex, president of the Association of Métis of Belgium, highlighted the enduring pain caused by these separations. 

“This loss of identity—to understand why they were taken from their mother, why their father did not recognize them—70 years later, some are still asking these questions. It is real pain that remains in the hearts of all the métis,” he told The Guardian.

The court awarded €50,000 in damages to each of the five women. Experts suggest this decision may open the door for further reparations to other mixed-race individuals who can prove they were intentionally separated from their mothers in Belgium’s former colonies of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi.