Burundi and Congo demand reparations of nearly $43 billion for Belgium for its colonial history

The recent Black Lives Matter movement in the United States which was stirred by the death of George Floyd also created a ripple among many African nations that are yet to recover from issues caused by colonialism and its activities.

Burundi, a country located in the Great Rift Valley of the East Africa recently demanded reparations from their former colonial masters, Belgium and Germany. Burundi rose allegations against these European countries for their past crimes against the African country.

Burundi has also joined forces with Republic of Congo to demand reparations of 42.5 billion USD for the long-term colonial effects inflicted on the African countries by their European colonialists.

A Congolese minister, Andre Lite, announced the country’s plan for a call to give compensations to the country on the grounds of the crimes committed against them by former colonial masters, earlier this year.

“The regrets of certain Belgian officials will never be enough in the face of their obligation to grant reparations to the victims of colonization and their relatives,” the ministers said. “It is contradictory or illogical to claim to be part of the respectful state and pretend not to know anything about serious crimes that have been committed in the past.”

The reparations move was stirred up after the Belgian King condemned the killing of George Floyd and expressed his regret over Belgium’s history in a speech in June.

The Congolese minister also said “the horizon” may seem to “be getting darker, after so many years of both denial and truth”, however, they are more determined get reparations for past crimes committed against the African nation.

According to Bloomberg News, Burundi spoke out in support for Congo and also demanded their own reparations from Germany. Both countries are also demanding the European nations to return traditional historic artifacts, archival materials and objects that were stolen between 1899 and 1962.  

In 1890, Germany colonized Burundi, Belgium took over after Germany’s defeat in World War II, and re-colonized Burundi until their independence in 1962.

According to Aloys Batungwanayo, a Burundi historian and researcher at Lausanne University, Burundi’s present-day political issues can be partly traced back to the decree passed by Belgian King Albert I that classified the nation into three major ethnic groups.

“It is this decree that has led to conflicts in Burundi and the region because some of the population was excluded from the ruling class because of the decree,” Batungwanayo said.

Burundi accuses Belgium of creating many challenges for the African nation through its past unsolicited interventions in the nation’s affairs in both past and recent times. In 2015, Belgium sheltered Burundi plotters of an attempted coup.

On its part, Belgium lawmakers are putting in efforts to revisit the country’s colonial past with Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda to reason out the matter and possibly make amends.