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Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel officially apologized for the role played by the country in the kidnapping of Métis children from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi between 1959 and 1962.
"On behalf of the federal government, I apologize to the mixed race people of Belgian colonization and their families for the injustice and suffering they have suffered. I also wish to express our full sympathy for the African mothers whose children were taken from them, "the Prime Minister told the Belgian Parliament on Thursday evening.
The problem of "métis"
The kidnapping of Métis children in the former colonies began at the turn of the 20th century.
Belgium had created a "racial segregation during the colonial period in which marriages between whites and blacks were not illegal … but many relations took place between [Belgian] African men and women "Assumani Budagwa, the author of Blacks-Whites, Métis – Belgium and the segregation of the Métis of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (1908-1960) (Black-White, Métis – Belgium and the segregation of the Métis in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi), told RFI.
When many Belgian men were on a mission in a village for a few days or weeks, they often asked the village chief for a companion.
Often this woman would be the leader's girl. These "companions" led to many "illegal" mixed relationships.
Other times, the Belgians had in their entourage a companion who traveled with them. In other situations, women were simply raped.
Belgium obliged to act
Most of these children would grow up with their mothers in their villages. But as more and more of these children became visible, Belgium felt the need to do something.
"These kids have been a problem. To minimize the problem, they abducted these children from the age of two and placed them in boarding schools in the European and African worlds. It is therefore a kind of cocoon to ensure their relationship with anyone, "says François Milliex, director of the Belgian Association of Métis, which was brought to Belgium under the same policy.
He added that the Belgians feared that once these children became adults, they might try to incite revolt, as was the case in Canada during the 1869 Red River Rebellion. 1870.
They were also afraid to demand certain privileges from the Belgian government as Europeans.
"The presence of these Métis children in the villages was also perceived as a blow to the white race, so they decided to keep these children out of the hands of indigenous people," Budagwa says.
In some cases, the children were hidden and raised in their families, adds Milliex.
However, the majority of these children were raised in isolated Catholic institutions or orphanages by priests or sisters away from their families and often away from their home country, the majority of these schools being located in Rwanda.
When they became adults, they were married to another half-breed, explains Budagwa.
In Belgium they go
When the colonies sought independence, Save's convent in Rwanda – one of the first Catholic missions in Rwanda – cared for the well-being of children after independence.
"The Belgian government and the missionaries felt that the local population would cause serious problems for these children if they stayed in these independent countries. And so, they brought about 1,000 children … to adopt, to be raised in boarding schools or to live with host families, "explains Milliex in Belgium.
Many mothers were contacted and forced to sign a letter allowing their child to be taken to Belgium.
According to Budagwa, many of those who refused were threatened with paying for their child's school fees. In other cases, the mothers were not contacted at all.
Personal travel of a man in Belgium
Milliex says that he was brought to Belgium at the age of 15 from Rwanda.
"We were seven brothers and sisters. And the authorities told my father, who was a Belgian colonel and a plantation owner, that the Métis children had to be evacuated. "
Upon arrival, the three older brothers were separated from the other siblings who were separated and placed in a foster home.
"My brothers and I were placed in a house for delinquent children. Our first contact with Belgium has been this home for delinquent children, "says Milliex.
His brothers and he being old enough to fend for themselves, so they wrote to authorities to ask them to be placed in a more appropriate home.
Eventually, they were hit and even managed to bring in their Rwandan mother.
His case is exceptional.
Initially, all the Métis children obtained Belgian nationality, but the latter was revoked.
Milliex and other half-breeds, like him, were therefore forced to engage with the authorities to buy back their nationality. Others remained stateless
Discover the past of Belgium
Assumani Budagwa, originally from the Belgian Congo, came to learn this chapter of the history of Belgium only through the intermediary of his cousin.
Her two Métis children were forcibly removed from her in 1959, when she was married to a European man.
But according to the Belgian rules, mixed marriages were not recognized.
"When the girls were older, a nun came and asked if she would agree to put her daughters in a boarding school in Ruanda. [Rwanda]"Even though they were in eastern Congo," says Budagwa.
"Several months later, the same nun came back to visit my cousin with her youngest to tell her that at the orphanage a white woman came and wanted to adopt your daughter.
His cousin refused the adoption.
But the girl was taken away in a car and she never saw her daughter again.
She immediately went to Rwanda to look for her other daughter, but she learned on her arrival that the nuns had already organized the departure of all the children in Belgium.
Over the years, she has tried to contact her daughters or find their address, but to no avail.
It is only years later, in 1986, that Budagwa decided to try to find his young cousins.
In doing so, he discovers this chapter of the history of Belgium and finds his cousins. One lived in Germany and the other in Belgium.
Apologies: too little, too late?
The excuses are a little late, but at least it's happening, Milliex said.
"This subject of mixed race is a subject that others have treated in other colonies", as was the case for the French and the Portuguese, "said Budagwa.
"This subject has been taboo for a very long time. As Métis ourselves, we did not talk about it together. Instead, we did our best to create our lives in Belgium without causing much turmoil. But it was only when we started to start a family that our children started asking us questions, who is your mother? Who is your dad? Where do they come from? But most people did not have an answer, "says Milliex.
He added that when they began to solicit the help of parliamentarians to solicit concrete action from the government, "three-quarters of MPs had never heard of that."
In 2017, the Catholic Church apologized for its role in the abduction and segregation of Métis children and for the prohibition of Métis marriage.
This apology is the first time that Belgium badumes responsibility for the atrocities committed during its colonial rule of more than 80 years.
The government has stated that it will provide badistance to those who need it and open the archives to everyone so that they can trace their family lineage.
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