Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

Burundi to Demand Colonial Reparations From Germany and Belgium  
Deutsche Welle
19 Aug 2020
Burundi to Demand Colonial Reparations From Germany and Belgium  
Burundi to Demand Colonial Reparations From Germany and Belgium  

The East African country is a former German colony and lived under Belgian rule until gaining independence almost 60 years ago. 

“The ruling powers strengthened the divide between the Hutu and Tutsi groups.”

Burundi wants Germany and Belgium to pay €36 billion ($42.6 billion) in reparations for colonial rule, media reports published on Sunday said.

The country's senate has put together a panel of experts to assess the damage done during colonialism and advise on the cost of damages, according to Radio France International.

The broadcaster said that once the amount has been decided, Burundi plans to send these recommendations to the German and Belgium governments.

The country also intends to demand the European countries return stolen historical artifacts and archive material.

From 1890, Germany colonized Burundi, which became part of German East Africa. After WWI, the country was ruled by Belgium, until it gained its independence in 1962.

Colonial legacy

During the colonial era, the ruling powers strengthened the divide between the Hutu and Tutsi groups.

This contributed to deadly ethnic conflict between them in the 1970s and then another civil war for 12 years from 1993, which killed some 300,000 people.

The Belgium government carried out a program of kidnapping biracial children from Burundi and then Belgium Congo during the 1940s and 50s.

Belgium officially apologized for this in 2009.

Although less well-known than other colonial powers, Germany was at one time the fourth-largest colonial power in the world.

In addition to German East Africa, which was made up of present-day Rwanda and parts of Tanzania in addition to Burundi, Germany had territories in what is now Ghana and Namibia and elsewhere.

The German government has been in talks since 2015 with Namibia — the country wants both financial reparations and an official apology from Germany for losses sustained and crimes committed during its colonial rule.

Belgium is planning to set up a panel of experts to advise its administration on how to deal with its colonial history.

This article previously appeared in Deutsche Welle.

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at [email protected]  

reparations

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

In a 1982 interview, Queen Mother Audley Moore raps on imperialism, neocolonialism, emancipation, and reparations -- and the need for Black people to get in our “right mind” to understand our domination.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
Interview: Queen Mother Moore, Westindian Digest, September 1982
23 November 2021
In a 1982 interview, Queen Mother Audley Moore raps on imperialism, neocolonialism, emancipation, and reparations -- and the need for Black peo
20 years After Durban: Africans and Afro-Descendants Colonized or Emancipated?
Mireille Fanon Mendes France
20 years After Durban: Africans and Afro-Descendants Colonized or Emancipated?
26 September 2021
The 20th anniversary of the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) is an opportunity to analyze the state of African descended people.
A Dose of Reality for the #ADOS Movement
Broderick Dunlap
A Dose of Reality for the #ADOS Movement
06 May 2021
Instead of showing solidarity with the third world, ADOS makes it clear that they want their share of the spoils of imperialism. 
Slave-built Infrastructure and Reparations
Joshua F.J. Inwood and Anna Livia Brand
Slave-built Infrastructure and Reparations
10 February 2021
US cities from Atlanta to New York City still use buildings, roads, ports and rail lines built by enslaved people.
The Great White Heist
Michael Harriot
The Great White Heist
16 September 2020
Just because enslaving and stealing labor from Black people was perfectly legal prior to 1868, America should not get to ignore descendants of the
Coronavirus is Making the Case for Black Reparations Clearer Than Ever
William A. Darity Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen
Coronavirus is Making the Case for Black Reparations Clearer Than Ever
13 May 2020
The COVID-19 crisis only heightens the urgency of black reparations, which is now more essential than ever.
Remembering Callie House, an Early Reparations Advocate
Junious Ricardo Stanton 
Remembering Callie House, an Early Reparations Advocate
11 March 2020
Her grassroots organization, the National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty and Pension Association lobbied for federal legislation in support of pens
America’s Last Slave Ship Could Offer a Case for Reparations
Jay Reeves
America’s Last Slave Ship Could Offer a Case for Reparations
23 October 2019
The riches that accrued from the last US slave shipment are in plain site of the voyage’s descendants in Mobile, Alabama.
Reparations for Development and Justice for the Caribbean
Prime Minister Gaston Browne
Reparations for Development and Justice for the Caribbean
23 October 2019
The labor costs alone of our forebears would have created a debt of approximately two trillion dollars, which must be repaid.
Reparations Rising – With Permission from White Democrats
Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
Reparations Rising – With Permission from White Democrats
01 August 2019
Black people’s support for reparations has soared in sync with the concept’s receptivity among white Democrats and establishment Black politicians.

More Stories


  • Liberals Drive State Censorship
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Liberals Drive State Censorship
    18 May 2022
    Liberals are the force behind censorship efforts. They defend the state and seek to silence anyone who questions its narratives.
  • The New White Supremacist Consensus Part Two: Shootings in Buffalo Solidify the Cons
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    The New White Supremacist Consensus Part Two: Shootings in Buffalo Solidify the Consensus
    18 May 2022
    The latest mass shooter in Buffalo, New York was clearly a racist, and identified with Ukrainian and other neo-Nazis. But white supremacy has a stronger hold on European and U.S. society than is…
  • REFLECTION: Choosing Ourselves: Black Women and Abortion, Beverly Smith, 1989
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    REFLECTION: Choosing Ourselves: Black Women and Abortion, Beverly Smith, 1989
    18 May 2022
    A 1989 talk by Black feminist Beverly Smith reminds us that for Black women, the right to abortion can be a woman’s right to life.
  • Notes from Ethiopia, Part 4: The TPLF Destruction of Afar
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Notes from Ethiopia, Part 4: The TPLF Destruction of Afar
    18 May 2022
    Contributing Editor Ann Garrison continues her reporting from the Horn of Africa. She is once again in Ethiopia.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Camera and Pen
    18 May 2022
                                                                                                  Camera and Pen  
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us