Baku: For the first time on October 31, an international conference titled ‘Belgian Colonialism: Recognition and Responsibility,’ dedicated to Belgium’s colonial past and its current severe consequences, will be held under the organization of the Baku Initiative Group, APA reports. Representatives from Belgium’s former colonies – the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi – as well as diplomats and officials, will take part in the event. In total, specialists in international law, historians, researchers, civil society activists, and experts on reparations from 8 countries will participate in the conference.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the conference will address the atrocities committed by Belgium against the local population on the African continent, particularly in its former colonies such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. Discussions will focus on ethnic division policies, mass killings, and the plundering of cultural heritage, as well as the severe consequences of Belgian colonialism that persist to this day. There will also be an exchange of views on the ongoing exploitation of resources in these countries due to Belgium’s neocolonial policies, the issue of compensation demands, and the inclusion of this matter in the agenda of international organizations.

A day before the conference, on October 30, foreign guests will engage in discussions with the faculty and students at Baku State University on the topic ‘Belgian Colonialism in Central Africa and Its Severe Consequences Continuing to This Day’ and will deliver lectures for the audience.

In a report prepared in 2019 by the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, it was stated that during Belgium’s colonial period in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi, 10 million people were killed, tens of thousands had their hands cut off, and an ethnic division policy was implemented, which has become a source of conflict today. The local population was subjected to forced labor, 20,000 children of mixed marriages (metis) were abducted and separated from their communities to be subjected to assimilation policies, and conditions for genocides were created. The report recommends that Belgium establish a commission to uncover the truths and facts, open its archives, and pay reparations.

The purpose of the conference is also to acquaint the public with the historical truths.