"In the name of the federal government, I present my apologies to the Metis of the Belgian colonial era and their families for the injustices and the sufferings they have endured," Prime Minister Charles Michel told Parliament.

"I hope that this solemn moment will be an additional step toward awareness and knowledge of this part of our national history," he said.

On behalf of the federal government, Michel acknowledged that the discrimination of mixed-race people and the forced abduction of their country after they have gained independence apologized to the African families whose children were abducted by Belgium.

The Catholic Church apologized for its role in the kidnappings in 2016 and in February, a report by a UN Security Council panel urged the Belgian government to also issue an apology, for what it called "atrocities committed during colonization".

The report added: "The root causes of present-day human rights violations lie in the lack of recognition of the true scope of violence and injustice of colonization."

Belgium's rule in Central Africa lasted from the 1800s to 1960 where they have exploited rubber and other resources, which led to slave labor that cost between 10 million and 15 million lives.

The mixed-race children, who were born from the relationship of Belgian men with indigenous women in the 1940s and '50s, were forcibly taken to Belgium given to the organizations affiliated to the Roman Catholic Church, or to Belgian families, in the 1960s, before the Congo's declaration of independence.

About 20,000 children are believed to have been affected while most fathers refused to acknowledge the paternity of their children.

The apologies of the Belgian leader to the parliament where also dozens of mixed-race people were invited; indicates that Belgium has accepted its responsibility for violations of human rights in the colonial era for the first time.

ILKHA