Parliamentary committee in Congo for working visit on colonial past

Five members of the Belgian special Parliamentary Committee on Colonial History have been in the Congolese capital Kinshasa since Wednesday for a working visit. Over the next week, the delegation will travel on to Rwanda and Burundi, the two other former Belgian colonies. In the three countries, the delegation will meet with politicians, civil society and academics.

On Thursday, the delegation already met with Congolese minister of Foreign Affairs Christophe Lutundula and fellow parliamentarians. Meetings will also be held with, among others, Belgian companies that are active in Congo and have roots in its colonial past, players in Belgian development cooperation and associations of metis (children born in Congo under Belgian rule of Congolese mothers and Belgian fathers). The MPs will stay in Congo until Sunday.

"To deal with this only in Belgium itself would be paternalistic and that is exactly what we want to avoid. A process of interaction and dialogue is crucial and as important as the result itself."

"A working visit on the spot is a matter of elementary respect", commission chairman Wouter De Vriendt (Flemish green party) commented from Kinshasa. "It is logical that the recognition of the colonial past and the pursuit of recovery and reconciliation should take place in dialogue with the countries concerned. To deal with this only in Belgium itself would be paternalistic and that is exactly what we want to avoid. A process of interaction and dialogue is crucial and as important as the result itself."

Several of the experts who have passed through the committee in recent months also called for a working visit "as essential to the recognition process the Chamber is engaged in".

Not all committee members are convinced, however. Open VLD (Flemish libertarians) and N-VA (Flemish nationalists), for instance, quickly made it clear that they will not be taking part in the working visit. The Flemish liberals do not see the added value, while the Flemish nationalists fear the visit will pave the way for reparation payments.

The commission was set up in July 2020 to take a close look at our country's colonial past and to make recommendations on restoring and reconciling it. In October 2021, a first expert report was presented, followed by a series of hearings. At the end of December, the commission will end its work.

(BRV)

"To deal with this only in Belgium itself would be paternalistic and that is exactly what we want to avoid", said commission chairman Wouter De Vriendt. © BELGA PHOTO JULIETTE BRUYNSEELS