A Belgian court has ordered the government to compensate five mixed-race women who were forcibly removed from their families during the colonial-era Belgian Congo.
The women, now in their 70s, were taken as children from their black mothers and placed in orphanages under a state-sanctioned policy aimed at separating mixed-race children from their families.
The Brussels Court of Appeal ruled on Monday that these forced separations constituted crimes against humanity, calling them “inhumane acts of persecution.” This landmark decision overturns a previous court ruling, which had dismissed the women’s claim on the grounds that too much time had passed. By declaring the actions crimes against humanity, the court removed any statute of limitations.
The women—Monique Bitu Bingi, Léa Tavares Mujinga, Noëlle Verbeken, Simone Ngalula, and Marie-José Loshi—launched their legal case for compensation in 2021. They were all taken from their families before the age of seven and placed in orphanages, many run by the Catholic Church. These institutions often failed to protect the children, exposing them to further abuse.
The court ordered the Belgian state to pay reparations for the “moral damage” caused by the loss of their mothers, their connection to their original environment, and their identity. The women had sought an initial payment of €50,000 (£41,400).
This case sheds light on the broader historical trauma of an estimated 20,000 mixed-race children born to white settlers and black women in DR Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda during the 1940s and 1950s. Many white fathers refused to acknowledge their children, leaving them without Belgian nationality. The state then placed these children in care, separating them from their families and cultural roots.
The Catholic Church, which managed many of the orphanages, apologized for its role in 2017, followed by a formal apology from the Belgian government in 2019. However, as Monique Bitu Bingi previously stated, “Apologies are easy, but when you do something, you have to take responsibility for it.”
This ruling marks a significant moment in Belgium’s reckoning with its colonial past and the lasting scars left on those who lived through its policies.
