A Belgium court has ordered the government to pay reparations to five mixed raced women who were born in colonial era Congo.
Thousands of children born to black mothers and white fathers were forcibly separated from their families during the 1940s and 1950s.
CGTN’s William Denselow met with Noelle Verbeken, one of the women who filed the lawsuit.
Thousands of children born to black mothers and white fathers were forcibly separated from their families during the 1940s and 1950s.
CGTN’s William Denselow met with Noelle Verbeken, one of the women who filed the lawsuit.
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00:00We were cloistered, of course. There were several of us, young and old. When we ate
00:06rice, it was a feast day. But we were deprived of a mother and a father, so it was really
00:14hard. We don't know what a maternal or paternal feeling is. It really hurt.
00:22Noelle was born to a black Congolese mother and a white Belgian father back when the Congo
00:29was a Belgian colony. Noelle, along with thousands of other children at that time, were kidnapped,
00:36separated from their mothers and sent to Catholic institutions. Noelle, along with four other
00:42women who she grew up with, filed a lawsuit seeking reparations. Now, court here in Brussels
00:49has ruled in their favour, saying that this practice during colonial times was a crime
00:56against humanity and an inhumane act of persecution.
01:02We of small nature, five women, who are against a state, an entire state, but it is worth
01:08it. It is a joy and truly a great joy and a great triumph. We are courageous. Don't
01:18take us for little girls. We are great ladies. We have this determination.