Benin grants citizenship to enslaved descendants, US singer Ciara among first
As reported by the Associated Press, the initiative is based on a new law enacted in September 2023, which grants citizenship to people over 18 who can document descent from enslaved Africans forcibly taken from sub-Saharan Africa.Applicants must not already be African citizens. Acceptable evidence includes DNA tests, authenticated testimonies, or family records. To simplify the process, Benin has launched an online platform called My Afro Origins to handle applications.Benin was involved in the transatlantic slave trade, with an estimated 1.5 million Africans removed from the Bight of Benin, a region that covered parts of present-day Benin, Togo, and parts of Nigeria. Traditionally, the Kings of Benin captured and sold people to European traders.Unlike many countries, Benin has addressed this legacy directly. In the 1990s, it hosted a conference on the slave trade. In 1999, then-President Mathieu Krkou publicly apologised to African Americans.As part of its outreach to the diaspora, Benin is constructing memorial tourism at selected sites such as Ouidah, which was a slave-trade hub. The Slave Route and the Door of No Return are some of the locations that descendants go to pay tribute to their ancestors.Ciara visited these sites after her citizenship ceremony. "Between emotion, reflection, and heritage, I felt a deep return to what counts," she said.- EndsWith inputs from Associated Press
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