2023-05-09 14:21:27
The Belgian State archives service has enabled more than 250 half-breeds from the former Belgian Congo, Rwanda or Burundi, who had been torn from their families during colonization, to undertake research work on their origins.
The Kingdom’s General Archives (AGR) announced that they had received 268 requests for access to documents from half-breeds or their descendants, which in 70% of cases made it possible to identify family ties or data on their origins which were hitherto unknown to them.
A result hailed by the head of diplomacy Hadja Lahbib, who is one of the Belgian ministers supporting this research work.
“Being cut off from your roots is terrible (…) We contributed to this story, we must be able to help repair it today,” said Ms. Lahbib in front of journalists.
Belgium was the colonial power of the Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ex-Zaire) and of Ruanda-Urundi, until the independence acquired in 1960 for the first country and in 1962 for Rwanda and Burundi.
During the colonial period, thousands of mixed-race children born to a Belgian father and an African mother were torn from their maternal family to be placed away from the population, often in orphanages or boarding schools run by Catholic congregations.
Most were not recognized by their father and deprived of birth certificates. They were not to mingle with whites or Africans, which the Belgian government admitted was “targeted segregation” nearly sixty years following independence.
In April 2019, the Belgian Prime Minister at the time, Charles Michel, issued an official apology for “the injustices and the sufferings” suffered by these mestizos.
One of the concrete consequences was the launch, at the end of 2019 by the Belgian archives, of a research project consisting in bringing together scattered archival documents and allowing public access. Missions were carried out in the former colonies and in the Vatican in particular.
On Monday, a mid-term review of this work – supposed to continue until 2026 – was presented in the presence of the Belgian ministers involved (Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, Science Policy).
Foreign Affairs, which inherited documents from the former Ministry of the Colonies and has nearly 10 km of linear “African archives”, has already transferred “5 km” of them to the AGR, underlined Ms. Lahbib.
“It is a colossal job that must be continued,” added the minister.
AFP with ACTUALITE.CD
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