Belgium faces appeal over colonial-era 'abduction' of mixed-race women

Five mixed-race women demanding reparations from Belgium after being taken from their mothers in Congo 70 years ago took their fight to a Brussels appeals court.

The women, now in their 70s, accused the country of crimes against humanity over a colonial-era practice that saw them forcibly placed in an orphanage.

The five women say they were torn from their families, brought up in a convent, mistreated and then abandoned when the Belgian Congo gained independence in 1960.

Their lawyers argue this was part of a "policy of racial segregation and abduction instituted by the colonial state".

Surrounded by relatives, the women huddled together on a front-row bench in the court Monday to hear the opening arguments of their appeal.

"Mixed-race (children) were taken away because they represented a danger to the colony," said Michele Hirsch, a lawyer for the five.

The case is the first in Belgium to shed light on the fate of biracial children born in the former Belgian colonies (Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi), who are thought to number around 15,000, though there has never been an official count.

'Identity theft'

Most of the children born of a union between a black woman and a white man were not recognised by their father and were not allowed to mix with either whites or Africans.

As a result, many were placed under state guardianship and put in orphanages usually run by the Catholic Church.

The women's lawyers — who are demanding initial compensation of 50,000 euros ($55,200) — say they also suffered from "identity theft".

The case was dismissed at first instance in 2021 as the Belgium state successfully argued that too much time had passed since the alleged wrongdoing.

The court also pointed out that the notion of crimes against humanity did not exist under Belgian law until 1999.

Belgium apologised to the mixed-race descendants of its white colonists in 2019.

The appeal is expected to last two days.