An international conference on overcoming Belgium's colonial legacy has begun in Baku

The opening of the international conference on the topic "The Injustice of Belgian Colonialism and 101 Years of Struggle for Reparations" took place in Baku.

As 1news.az reports, the event is attended by officials from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Burundi — former Belgian colonies where Belgium still maintains neocolonial influence — as well as from Morocco and the Republic of South Africa, and representatives of the UN.

Participants will discuss the consequences of Belgian colonial rule, issues of restoring historical justice, and possible forms and mechanisms for providing reparations.

During the opening, it was noted that no compensation or reparations can bring back the lives of the people who died as a result of Belgium's colonial policy in the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. At the same time, it was emphasized that reparations should not be limited exclusively to financial payments for past suffering.

One of the key outcomes of the conference may be a final draft "road map" for obtaining colonial reparations.

Holding the event on August 21 has symbolic significance. On that day in 1925, the parliament of Belgium adopted a law on the administrative unification of Ruanda-Urundi with the Belgian colony of the Congo.

Almost a century later, the question of the consequences of this colonial legacy has once again become the subject of international discussion.