Al Jazeera English published this video item, entitled “Belgian king expresses regrets for colonial cruelties in DR Congo” – below is their description.
Belgium’s King has repeated that he profoundly regrets his country’s colonial past, in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In 2020, Philippe became the first Belgian official to express regret for the “suffering and humiliation” inflicted on DRC. But he stopped short of issuing an apology, and some Congolese have demanded he does during this first visit since taking the throne in 2013.
Historians estimate 10 million Congolese were killed during Belgian rule.
Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb reports.
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Al Jazeera English YouTube Channel
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In This Story: Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest.
It covers an area of 30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 376 per square kilometre (970/sq mi). The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.
Legally, Belgium is a sovereign state and a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. Its institutional organization is complex and is structured on both regional and linguistic grounds. It is divided into three highly autonomous regions: the Flemish Region in the north, Wallonia in the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region.
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In This Story: Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DROC, or simply either Congo or the Congo, and historically Zaire, is a country in Central Africa. The capital is Kinshasa.
With a population of over 101 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most-populous officially Francophone country in the world.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely rich in natural resources but has suffered from political instability. As of 2018, around 600,000 Congolese have fled to neighbouring countries from conflicts in the centre and east of the DRC. Two million children risk starvation, and the fighting has displaced 4.5 million people.
