Belgium convicted of crimes against humanity over forced separation of mixed-race Congolese children in colonial era

Belgium has been convicted of crimes against humanity in a case filed over its forced separation of mixed-race children born to Belgian fathers from their families in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the colonial period. According to Anadolu Agency, the court ruling formally established in law that Belgium systematically implemented the practice in question.

During the colonial period, Belgian authorities forcibly removed mixed-race children born to Congolese mothers and Belgian fathers from their mothers and handed them over to institutions and missionaries under Belgian control. This practice, which continued for decades, severed those children from both their families and their cultural identities. The majority were raised in facilities consisting largely of church-affiliated boarding schools and orphanages.

The ruling has resonated widely in international public opinion as a landmark moment in Europe's reckoning with the grave human-rights abuses of the colonial era. Experts point out that the decision may also influence legal proceedings in other countries with similar colonial histories.