Belgium‘s Court of Appeal has ruled that the government must compensate five Congolese women who were forcibly separated from their mothers during colonial rule, declaring the abductions—committed over 70 years ago—as crimes against humanity.
The women were taken as children from their families in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and placed in orphanages.
The court overturned a previous ruling that had argued too much time had elapsed to prosecute the case, stating that crimes of this nature are not subject to statutes of limitations.
“The court orders the Belgian state to compensate the appellants for the moral damage resulting from the loss of their connection to their mother and the damage to their identity and their connection to their original environment,” the judgement stated.
‘Deliberate Policy’ of Separation
The court characterised the separations as part of a deliberate policy targeting children born to black mothers and white fathers.
According to the judgement, the Belgian colonial administration systematically sought out and abducted mixed-race children under the age of seven, placing them under state guardianship in institutions often managed by the Catholic Church.
The five plaintiffs—Simone Ngalula, Monique Bitu Bingi, Léa Tavares Mujinga, Noëlle Verbeeken, and Marie-José Loshi—each sought €50,000 in compensation.
“They called us ‘children of sin,’” said Mujinga, while Ngalula recalled being referred to as “café au lait” (coffee with milk) at school.
Their lawyer, Michèle Hirsch, hailed the decision as a “total victory” and a historic milestone.
“This is the first time a country has been convicted on this legal basis for acts committed during colonisation,” she said.
Colonial-Era Crimes
Belgium has come under increasing scrutiny for its colonial past, particularly its brutal rule over Congo, widely regarded as one of the harshest regimes in Africa.
Between 1885 and 1908, King Leopold II ruled the Congo as his personal property, during which millions of Congolese were killed or subjected to horrific abuse. The territory subsequently became a Belgian colony until it gained independence in 1960.
The case also highlights the plight of mixed-race children born in former Belgian colonies, including the DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi. Estimated to number between 14,000 and 20,000, these children were often ostracised, denied recognition by their fathers, and segregated from both black and white communities.
