Conference: African Mothers and their Métis Children abducted by the Belgian Colonial Administration: What Progress Towards Justice and Reparations? Muntpunt (MalleMunt Room) - 6 Place de la Monnaie, 1000 Brussels

Five years after the Belgian government apologised to Métis people born during colonial times and their African mothers, and six years after the adoption of the Métis Resolution, several questions remain:

• What has become of the fate of the Métis abandoned in the Great Lakes region (DRC, Rwanda, Burundi) by the Belgian colonial administration? It is not known how many victims there were, but sources say that by the end of the 1950s, 16,000 Métis had been taken from their families. 15,000 of them were left in the Great Lakes region.

• What about the African mothers who were also victims of the practice of abducting their Métis children? They are often mentioned, but not in public debate or the Belgian state's reparations policies.

• Do the consequences of this colonial policy still have an impact today?

This conference will look at how to improve reparations for Métis children born of colonization and their families. It will also look at how to take into account the wider colonial context.

• Geneviève Kaninda (African Futures Lab)
• Assumani Budagwa (Researcher)
• Rachel Kapombo (Association des Enfants des Belges Laissés au Congo)
• Le Collectif Métis - Belgium
• Kalvin Soiresse (President, Brussels French-speaking Parliament - Ecolo)