For the first time in Azerbaijan, the Baku Initiative Group (BIG) has organized an international conference titled “Belgian Colonialism: Acknowledgement and Responsibility,” dedicated to examining Belgium’s colonial past and its enduring consequences.

Axar.az reports the event brings together representatives from Belgium’s former colonies — the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi — alongside diplomats, officials, international law experts, historians, researchers, civil society activists, and reparations specialists from eight countries.

Participants will discuss crimes committed by Belgium during its colonial period, its ongoing neocolonial policies, and issues related to compensation and reparations.

The Baku Initiative Group aims to promote the demand for accountability and compensation for crimes committed by Belgium in its former colonies within the framework of international law and to highlight these issues at international platforms.

Belgium’s colonial rule led to horrific atrocities, including the deaths of more than 10 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mass amputations, and the looting of cultural treasures.

In 1933, Belgium introduced 600,000 ethnic identity cards in Rwanda and Burundi, enforcing an ethnic division policy that later contributed to the genocides of 1972 and 1994. Between 1940 and 1950, 20,000 métis children were forcibly taken from their families and transported to Belgium.

The Tervuren Museum in Belgium today houses around 180,000 looted artifacts from the colonial era, including more than 40,000 cultural items such as masks and ritual tools taken from Rwanda.

A 2019 UN report calls for an investigation into Belgium’s colonial crimes, the opening of archives, and the payment of reparations — recommending compensation of €500 billion for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and €36 billion for Burundi.

Belgium is also accused of continuing neocolonial exploitation in its former colonies, particularly through control of 80% of cobalt mining operations.