Baku to host first-ever conference on Belgian colonialism

For the first time, Baku will host an international conference focused on Belgium’s colonial history and its enduring consequences.

Scheduled for October 31, the event, titled “Belgian Colonialism: Acknowledgement and Responsibility,” is organised by the Baku Initiative Group (BIG), as per domestic media reports.

Representatives from Belgium’s former colonies — including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi — will attend, alongside diplomats, government officials, and experts. The conference will bring together international law specialists, historians, researchers, civil society activists, and reparations experts from eight countries.

The conference will focus on the atrocities committed during Belgian colonial rule in Africa, including massacres, forced labour, ethnic divisions, the looting of cultural property, and the enduring neo-colonial control over African resources. Participants will also discuss the urgent need to raise the issue of reparations to the international level.

On the eve of the conference, October 30, the visiting delegates will meet with faculty and students at Baku State University. They will deliver lectures on “Belgian Colonialism in Central Africa and Its Consequences That Persist to This Day,” aiming to educate and raise awareness among the younger generation.

According to the 2019 report of the UN Working Group on People of African Descent, Belgian colonial rule in Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi resulted in approximately 10 million deaths, tens of thousands of people losing their hands, hundreds of thousands subjected to forced labour, and around 20,000 Mestizo children forcibly separated from their families for assimilation purposes. The UN report recommends that Belgium establish a truth commission, open colonial archives, and provide reparations to the affected populations.

The Baku Initiative Group, an international NGO founded on July 6, 2023, in Baku, is committed to fostering global partnerships in decolonisation and human rights.

Established by participants of the “Towards the Total Elimination of Colonialism” conference during the Non-Aligned Movement ministerial meeting under Azerbaijan’s chairmanship, the group actively supports freedom and independence struggles for people living under colonial or neocolonial conditions.

Beyond its decolonisation mission, BIG promotes women’s empowerment, human rights, environmental protection, and cultural initiatives, combining solidarity with practical assistance.

The organisation also advocates for people in regions worldwide who continue to experience colonisation in the 21st century.

By Tamilla Hasanova