Belgium apologizes for the kidnapping of over 20,000 Métis children in the colonial era | Social

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has apologized for the kidnapping of thousands of children born to Métis couples during the colonial regime of Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda.

The "mixed race" children born to Belgian settlers and women from the region were forcibly taken to Belgium and set up by Catholic orders and other institutions. About 20,000 children would have been affected. Most fathers refused to recognize the paternity of their children.

Some of the children, born in the 1940s and 1950s, never received Belgian nationality and remained stateless. Speaking to the Belgian Parliament, Prime Minister Michel said the country had violated children's human rights, viewing them as a threat to the colonial system.

He would have stripped them of their identity, stigmatized them and divided their brothers and sisters. "I swear this solemn moment will be one step closer to the awareness and recognition of this part of our national history," he said in his statement.

Many Métis children have helped Belgium become "a more open and tolerant society," added the Prime Minister. Two years ago, the Catholic Church apologized for its role in the scandal.

Last year, Belgian deputies asked the government to help affected children to find their biological parents and acquire Belgian nationality. Meanwhile, their mothers also searched for the children who were abducted.