318,531
edits
m
→Immigration into Belgium
m (→Emigration) |
|||
| Line 121: | Line 121: | ||
At the beginning of 2012, people of foreign background and their descendants were estimated to have formed around 25% of the total population i.e. 2.8 million new Belgians. Of these new Belgians, 1,200,000 are of European ancestry and 1,350,000 are from non-Western countries (most of them from '''Morocco, Turkey, and the DR Congo'''). Since the modification of the Belgian nationality law in 1984 more than 1.3 million migrants have acquired Belgian citizenship. The largest group of immigrants and their descendants in Belgium are '''Moroccans'''.<ref>"Belgium", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium, accessed 3 May 2021.</ref> | At the beginning of 2012, people of foreign background and their descendants were estimated to have formed around 25% of the total population i.e. 2.8 million new Belgians. Of these new Belgians, 1,200,000 are of European ancestry and 1,350,000 are from non-Western countries (most of them from '''Morocco, Turkey, and the DR Congo'''). Since the modification of the Belgian nationality law in 1984 more than 1.3 million migrants have acquired Belgian citizenship. The largest group of immigrants and their descendants in Belgium are '''Moroccans'''.<ref>"Belgium", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium, accessed 3 May 2021.</ref> | ||
===Belgo-Congolese, Belgo-Rwandans and Belgo-Burundians=== | |||
*On 18 October 1908, the Belgian Parliament voted in favour of annexing the Congo as a Belgian colony. On 15 November 1908 the '''Belgian Congo''' became a colony of the Belgian Kingdom. | |||
*Opening up the Congo and its natural and mineral riches for the Belgian economy remained an important motive for colonial expansion, but other priorities, such as healthcare and basic education, gradually gained in importance. | |||
*After World War I, Germany was forced to cede "control" of the Western section of the former German East Africa to Belgium. On 20 October 1924, '''Ruanda-Urundi (1924–1945), which consisted of modern-day Rwanda and Burundi''', became a Belgian League of Nations mandate territory, with Usumbura as its capital. | |||
*On 13 January 1959, King Baudouin of Belgium addressed the nation by radio and declared that Belgium would work towards the full independence of the Congo.<ref>"Belgian Congo", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Congo, accessed 5 May 2021.</ref> | |||
<br> | |||
*Over the past 60 years, more than 280,000 people emigrated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Belgium, with those arriving in Brussels establishing the Congolese community in the Matonge neighbourhood. The area was named after a district of the DRC’s capital Kinshasa by the first wave of Congolese arrivals – students looking to live close to the Free University of Brussels. The first waves of Congolese arrivals did not make long-term plans in Belgium, hoping to return to their home country after the situation improved there.<ref>"Belgium’s Congolese mark 60 years since DRC’s independence", In Aljazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/6/30/belgiums-congolese-mark-60-years-since-drcs-independence, accessed 5 May 2021.</ref> | |||
<br> | |||
*Belgo-Congolese, Belgo-Rwandans and Belgo-Burundians, with some 110,000 people now living in Belgium, are the third largest population group stemming from immigration from outside the European Union. Migrations from Congo, Rwanda and Burundi to Belgium are recent and are the result of initiatives by individuals or families: to study, rejoin their families or escape from conflicts. | |||
*Belgo-Congolese, Belgo-Rwandan and Belgo-Burundian people have come to live permanently in Belgium. The fact that they are becoming more anchored in society is evidenced by the improved social inclusion of second generation Afro-descendants who were born and socialized in Belgium. <ref>"Belgo-Congolese, Belgo-Rwandans and Belgo-Burundians: facing discrimination despite a long shared history", at the King Baudouin Foundation, https://www.kbs-frb.be/en/Newsroom/Press-releases/2017/20171122AJ, accessed 5 May 2021.</ref> | |||
==For Further Reading== | ==For Further Reading== | ||