Campaigns

At African Futures Lab, we are actively shaping policies and public debates around the enduring legacies of colonialism and slavery, and the ongoing fight for racial justice across Africa and Europe.

Our work is rooted in systemic change, ensuring African voices and demands are front and center in global discourse.   

Table of contents

The Métis of the Great Lakes: A Transnational Case for Justice and Reparations

Who Are the Métis?

The Métis are biracial children born in the Belgian Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda to European fathers and African mothers. Under Belgian colonial rule, some 16,000 children were forcibly abducted—many institutionalized or displaced to Belgium—severing families and causing lifelong trauma. Of these, about 15,000 remained in the Great Lakes region.

Colonial Crimes Against the Métis

Under Belgian colonial rule in Central Africa, thousands of Métis children—born to African mothers and European fathers—were subjected to systematic human rights violations. These acts, rooted in racist ideologies of white supremacy, continue to have lasting impacts.

1. Systematic Abduction

From 1890, Belgian authorities issued decrees to forcibly remove biracial children from their mothers, often claiming it was for their education and protection.Taken from their families, Métis children were placed in church-run missions known as colonies scolaires, where they were stripped of their African identity and forcibly "Europeanized." This segregation aimed to erase their roots and enforce colonial racial hierarchies.

2. Displacement and Statelessness

In the years leading to independence (1959–1962), hundreds of Métis children were relocated to Belgium. Once there, a 1960 ministerial circular revoked their Belgian nationality and labeled them illegitimate, leaving them stateless and cut off from both their African and European identities.

3. Abandonment and Trauma

At independence, most Métis children were left in institutions with no records, no support, and no connection to their families. Their stories are marked by deep emotional trauma, legal invisibility, and decades of silence. As one survivor shared:

 “It’s only with Georges Kamanayo’s report that I said to myself, ‘But I’m not alone!’”

Why we are involved

The story of the Métis children is not just a colonial tragedy—it is a modern justice crisis. Their forced abduction, racial segregation, and abandonment under Belgian colonial rule reveal how the legacies of exploitation continue to inflict harm today. Families were destroyed, identities erased, and trauma passed through generations.

This case aligns directly with African Futures Lab's mission: to confront historical and ongoing injustices, demand systemic change, and fight for reparations that are material, financial, and structural. 

Our Advocacy in Action

Dec 2 2024 - African Futures Lab and Amnesty International Joint Press Release

Belgium Convicted of Crimes Against Humanity for Acts Committed During Colonization  (external link) 

In a historic move, Belgium has been convicted of crimes against humanity for acts committed during colonization which must signal as a turning point for European States, said African Futures Lab and Amnesty International.

Today, the Brussels Court of Appeal recognized the responsibility of the Belgian State in the abduction and systematic racial segregation of Métis children under Belgian colonial rule, after five Métis women born between 1948 and 1952 in the Belgian Congo, initiated legal proceedings against the Belgian state. After a Brussels court ruled against their claims in 2021, they continued to seek redress and appealed the decision, reaching this historical ruling today. .

Like thousands of Métis children born to European fathers and African mothers, Marie-Josée Loshi, Noëlle Verbeken, Léa Tavares Mujinga, Simone Ngalula, and Monique Bintu Bingi were taken from their Congolese mothers, forcibly placed in religious institutions, deprived of their roots and identity, and later abandoned to fend for themselves when Congo gained independence. Even today, the wounds of that era remain profound. The Métis children of colonization still grapple with the consequences of these devastating practices, despite the official apology made by the Belgian Prime Minister at the time, Charles Michel, in 2018, and the Federal Parliament's adoption of the 'Métis Resolution' in 2019.

Read more. (external link)

A Landmark Ruling: Toward Full Reparations for the Métis 

The struggle for justice for the Métis people has spanned decades—marked by piecemeal apologies, limited reforms, and persistent inaction, especially for those who remained in the Great Lakes region. Since 2015, the Belgian state has issued formal apologies, culminating in a 2019 apology from then-Prime Minister Charles Michel. (external link) The 2018 “Métis Resolution” offered a framework for redress but failed to deliver meaningful reparations.

Our research, and that of our partners, exposed ongoing barriers: denial of access to archives, lack of psychosocial support, blocked visas, and disregard for survivors in Africa. For many, Belgium’s response amounted to what the Association of Belgian Children Left in Congo (AEBLC) called a “politics of the grave”—waiting out victims rather than delivering justice.

December 2, 2024: Justice Delivered

In a historic decision, the Brussels Court of Appeal convicted Belgium of crimes against humanity for its colonial abduction and racial segregation of Métis children. This victory—won by five courageous Métis women—marks a seismic shift in legal recognition of colonial abuses. Their persistent fight, after an initial dismissal in 2021, led to a powerful affirmation: colonial violence has enduring consequences and must be redressed.

As Léa Tavares Mujinga testified:

 “The Belgian state uprooted us, cut us off from our people. It stole our childhood, our lives, our first names, our surnames, our identities, and our human rights.”

This ruling is not just symbolic—it granted reparations the women deemed just and necessary, offering a foundation for broader systemic redress.

Our Demands for Reparations

In light of this ruling, African Futures Lab calls for:

  • Full recognition and reparations from all European states involved in such colonial policies—material, financial, and systemic.
  • Legal accountability beyond apologies and symbolic resolutions.
  • Streamlined access to Belgian nationality, humanitarian visas, and DNA testing for Métis descendants.
  • Comprehensive healthcare support—including mental health—for all Métis of Belgian colonial descent.
  • Financial compensation for all victims, including African mothers whose children were taken.
  • Recognition of colonial crimes as crimes against humanity in international law, including the Rome Statute.
  • Public education and remembrance in Belgium, the DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi to preserve and honor Métis histories.

The Way Forward

This historic decision represents long-awaited recognition and supports additional claims for reparations for Métis people, offering a beacon of hope for a future where justice prevails. We remain committed to ensuring these demands are met. Recognizing a crucial gap in the current discourse, with significant focus on the Métis children but less on their mothers, we are currently working on a documentary to feature the remaining mothers of these Métis children, allowing them to share their powerful stories and ensure their experiences are heard and documented.

Call to Action

2–3 June 2025, University of Pretoria (Hybrid) | Advancing Climate Reparations at Pretoria Conference

As the African Union marks 2025 as the Year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations, African Futures Lab joined the Justice through Reparations: African–Caribbean Dialogue hosted by the University of Pretoria. The two-day conference brought together experts from across Africa and the Caribbean to advance the fight for reparations for historical harms rooted in slavery, colonialism, and environmental exploitation.

Our Climate Research and Policy Advisor, Dr. Patrick Toussaint, joined virtually to present the joint paper: "Climate Reparations and the Continuing Legacies of Colonial Harm: Developing a Pan-African Research and Policy Agenda."

The paper argues that the climate crisis is a racial justice issue, rooted in extractive colonial histories, and calls for a Pan-African research and policy framework for climate reparations.

Organized by CARICOM, UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, and others.

Visit the official official event page. (external link)

May 30 2025 | Rejecting Green Colonialism at the Africa Movement Building Space

As part of the Movement of Movements, African Futures Lab proudly supports PowerShift Africa’s policy brief: "Why Carbon Markets Are a Dangerous Distraction for Africa (external link)"

We reject carbon market schemes that entrench extractivism and perpetuate the exclusion of African women from climate decision-making. True justice lies in funding feminist, community-led alternatives, not profit-driven offsets.

Read the Policy Brief. (external link)

20-21 May 2025, Nairobi, Kenya | 4th Convening of the Africa Movement Building Space

African Futures Lab joined organizers and thinkers at the 4th Africa Movement Building Space to confront extractivism and climate injustice. Our engagements emphasized collective resistance rooted in reparative justice, focusing on food systems, health, and land rights.

Key Takeaways from the Convening

- Africa’s climate crisis is rooted in colonial extraction and unjust global systems.

- False solutions like carbon markets and geoengineering risk deepening harm — African communities need homegrown, feminist, community-led solutions, not copy-paste models from the Global North.

- 22 African countries face debt distress — our movements must connect climate, economic, and debt justice.

- Food and health systems are under pressure — agroecology and public systems are critical pathways forward.

- Climate finance must stop propping up fossil fuels and start funding frontline-led transitions.

- Intersectionality is not optional — we must center race, gender, youth, and disability justice in all we do.

This convening was a reminder that movements across the continent are not only resisting — we are reimagining and rebuilding systems rooted in justice, solidarity, and care

5 May 2025 | Blog article by Dr. Patrick Toussaint titled 'Loss and Damage, Liability and the Case for Reparations'

In this insightful blog post (external link)on the Environmental Law and Justice Blog, Dr. Toussaint unpacks the case for reparations through the lens of loss and damage, legal liability, and climate justice frameworks.

Read the blog article. (external link)

April 2025 | African Futures Lab Presents at Montreal Climate Reparations Conference

At the Montreal Climate Reparations Conference, Dr. Toussaint presented on the climate justice implications of US superfund models and the case for strict liability instruments that center the rights of Global South communities in loss and damage financing.

Explore the presentation summary.

2025 | Joint submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on reparations for the enslavement on Africans and its ongoing harms

African Futures Lab and Meghna Abraham (external link), an international human rights lawyer and expert, made a joint submission to CERD in response to its call for inputs (external link).

This submission (external link)focuses on the need for a comprehensive and transformative approach to reparations for the historical injustices from the chattel enslavement of Africans and the ensuing and ongoing harms to people of African descent. It also includes some brief overall comments on the questions raised by the Committee on the illegality of chattel slavery and its implications in terms of racial discrimination.  

Read the submission.  (external link)