Foreign

Home page

Foreign

Baku Initiative Group: International community is not responding appropriately to Belgium's actions

Abbas Abbasov, Executive Director of the Baku Initiative Group

31 October 2025 15:00 (UTC +04:00)

The Baku Initiative Group has expanded its areas of activity over the past year, said Abbas Abbasov, Executive Director of the Baku Initiative Group, in his remarks to journalists during the international conference titled “Belgian Colonialism: Acknowledgment and Responsibility” held in Baku, APA reports.

"So, within the framework of reparations issues, which are an important part of the decolonization process, we have already started implementing international projects and organizing international conferences."

As for Belgian colonialism, I would like to emphasize that the global public is well aware of the cruel crimes committed against humanity during the colonial policies pursued by Belgium in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

However, the international community and relevant international organizations are not showing the necessary response. They do not discuss any noteworthy issues related to reparations and compensation.

As an international non-governmental organization, we are working to bring this issue to the agenda of international organizations, and I am confident that in a few years, the reactions of the relevant international bodies regarding reparations and compensations will increase. The global community will take a fair stance toward the mentioned countries — the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda — and positive results will be achieved in this direction. Naturally, we have established close cooperation with representatives of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as local non-governmental organizations there. As the Baku Initiative Group, we will seek to support them on issues of reparations and compensations within the framework of international law,” Abbas Abbasov noted.

He added that if formerly colonized countries apply to the organization in the future, the Baku Initiative Group will launch research and seek to provide assistance to those countries.