Research project IM/MB/21/Metissen (Research action IM)
On 29 March 2018, the Chambre of Representatives unanimously approved the resolution "on the segregation suffered by metis of Belgian colonial origin in Africa". Article 6 of this Metis-Resolution called for "a detailed historical investigation into the role of civil and ecclesiastical authorities in the treatment of the metis during the colonial period in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi", with the importance of making the necessary budgetary, material and human resources available to the General State Archives (ARA-AGR) in order to achieve the objectives pursued in the Resolution.
The "Metis-Resolution" research project, carried out in accordance with the wishes of the Resolution, is divided into two phases, which correspond respectively to Articles 6 and 7 of the Resolution.
Phase 1 - which corresponds to Article 7 of the Resolution - was the subject of a cooperation agreement between the FPS Foreign Affairs and the State Archives. In this first phase, all personal files of the metis were inventoried and correlations between these files were made. The transfer of the 'African archives' from the FPS Foreign Affairs to the ARA-AGR is currently underway.
The present research project concerns phase 2 of the research, which corresponds to Article 6 of the Resolution, in which a detailed historical investigation is conducted into the role of the civil and church authorities in the treatment of the metis during the colonial period in Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi.
