Latest news with #Caricom
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Caribbean leaders back Jamaica petition to King Charles for slavery reparations
Caribbean leaders are backing Jamaica's petition to King Charles on reparations as the region prepares to step up its pursuit of reparative justice for slavery, the prime minister, Andrew Holness, said. Speaking at this week's leaders summit for the Caribbean Community (Caricom), a bloc of 20 member and associate member states, Holness said Jamaica had secured 'broad support' from the region for its petition to the king, the island's head of state. The petition asks Charles to use his authority to request legal advice from the judicial committee of the London-based privy council, the final court of appeal for UK overseas territories and some Commonwealth countries, on whether the forced transport of Africans to Jamaica was lawful, if it constituted a crime against humanity, and whether Britain was under obligation to provide a remedy to Jamaica for slavery and its enduring consequences. During the centuries-long transatlantic slave trade more than 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported to the Americas, including Jamaica, where they were sold into slavery. Holness, acknowledging the Jamaican MP Mike Henry, who brought the resolution, which has now been passed in parliament and affirmed by the country's cabinet, said the petition was a bold step towards justice. It was a 'watershed moment for Caricom and the broader global movement for reparatory justice', he added. He said that if the petition was successful, 'the United Kingdom bears a legal obligation to provide reparations to Jamaica and its people for the enduring harm caused'. Jamaica's culture minister, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, who announced the petition in June, told the Guardian it was 'going to have a far-reaching impact on our efforts in the region to seek reparation'. She emphasised that countries were working together: 'Various countries will be making a determination what action they take. But the bottom line is that they are all onboard in support of the position we have taken. That, to me, is the big statement – we're working together in this effort,' she said. Other leaders reiterated their commitment, with the prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, one of the founding members of the Caricom reparations movement, saying 'we are not giving up the reparations fight'. 'In the Caribbean [we] have a specific primary concern, primary responsibility to address reparations for native genocide and the enslavement of Africans,' he said, adding that the region needed allies. He said the issue would be on the agenda at the Africa-Caricom summit, scheduled for September in Ethiopia. The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, emphasised that it was a matter of justice for those who were exploited and were not paid for their labour. 'We must be able to fight for justice because not only were our forebearers exploited in terms of not being paid, but the profits that were generated were repatriated to Europe and to North America to build out their economies, and they left our countries bereft of important social institutions, hospitals, schools, and they also did not develop the infrastructure within our countries,' he said. The premier of the British Virgin Islaands, Natalio Wheatley, congratulated Caricom and Jamaica for pressing the issue in the face of opposition in the UK. 'Some persons would just prefer not to listen to it. And sometimes when you hear about some of the persons in the United Kingdom, some of the journalists, etc, who almost ridicule the whole concept of reparations, and ridicule those who bring those arguments, you see really what we're up against, but we appreciate the leadership.'
Telegraph
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Jamaica pushes King to back slavery reparations
The Jamaican government has urged the King to support slavery reparations. The Caribbean country is the first to exploit 19th-century colonial legislation to directly petition the monarch, who remains head of state of the island nation, to refer the issue to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The committee is the highest court of appeal for the 15 independent Commonwealth realms which retain the King as their head of state. Jamaica hopes that, after being asked by the King to examine the reparations issue, the committee could then give an opinion on whether Britain has a legal 'obligation' to offer a 'remedy'. Legal experts believe official recognition would 'open the door' to the payments, with campaigners seeking up to £18 trillion. The Telegraph understands that other Caribbean countries which retain the King as head of state could follow Jamaica and pursue the same strategy. Olivia Grange, the Jamaican culture minister, announced the plan this week, telling Parliament: 'We will be submitting a petition to His Majesty King Charles III to refer to the Privy Council a set of questions that we want answered within his current position as head of state of Jamaica.' Derrick McKoy, the attorney general of Jamaica, has been asked by Ms Grange to submit the petition. Members of Caricom, a political grouping of 15 Caribbean states, have long demanded reparation payments from Britain and other colonial powers, including France and the Netherlands. However, the calls have been repeatedly rebuffed by successive UK governments, which have refused to discuss the issue. The latest high-profile attempt was in 2024 when Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, came under pressure from Commonwealth members ahead of a summit in Samoa. Jamaica's new strategy seeks to apply renewed pressure on the UK by exploiting the Judicial Committee Act 1833. Under the legislation, which still applies to Jamaica following independence in 1962, colonies were permitted to petition the monarch on judicial matters and stated that the King could 'refer… any such other matters whatsoever as His Majesty shall think fit'. 'Crime against humanity' Jamaica wants the committee to offer an opinion on whether the slave trade was illegal under British common law at the time it existed, and whether it could now be legally considered a 'crime against humanity'. It is hoped that in answering these questions, the committee could issue advice on whether 'the UK is under an obligation to provide a remedy to the Jamaican people for the unlawful transport and subsequent enslavement of African people'. The petition, officially 'on behalf of the Jamaica people', has been drawn up with the help of attorney and reparations campaigner, Bert Samuels, who said the request would go 'straight to Buckingham Palace'. He explained that if the King sought advice, then: 'The Judicial Committee can then give [an] opinion. You could get an opinion that slavery was indeed a crime against humanity. 'This would open the door for reparations to be paid.' Nicola Diggle, an expert on the Privy Council with London law firm Blake Morgan, said the King would not be obliged to refer the issue, and neither was the committee obligated to offer any advice or opinions on the matter. A palace source said that if the King were to receive such a petition, he would act, as always, on the advice of the relevant authorities. The idea of petitioning the King has been credited to Jamaican lawyer Frank Phipps, who has long worked with Caricom's Reparations Commission. In 2014, the commission unveiled a 10-point plan for reparative justice, including demands for an official apology and financial compensation, and sought advice on how to bring a legal case. The Telegraph revealed in February that Lord Hermer, the current Attorney General, worked on plans to take action against the UK. However, in the end, the case was not pursued. Next week, MPs are due to discuss slavery reparations with a delegation from the Caribbean, led by the Repair Campaign group. Sir Keir and David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, have been made aware of the series of briefings planned in Parliament to drum up support for reparations. Insiders said there had been plans earlier in the year for Mr Lammy to host a 'Caricom forum', which would hear submissions about reparations. However, sources said this was pushed back because of the conflict between Israel and Iran. Campaigners had hoped that Mr Lammy, of Guyanese descent, and Labour more generally might be sympathetic to their cause after the Tories repeatedly refused to discuss the issue.
Telegraph
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
MPs to discuss slavery reparations
MPs are set to discuss slavery reparations with a delegation from the Caribbean. A group of activists and academics will travel to Westminster to make their case, which could include demands for Britain to pay trillions of pounds. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, and David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, have been invited, the Telegraph has been informed. Insiders said there had been plans for Mr Lammy to host a 'Caricom forum' which would hear submissions about reparations. However, sources said this was pushed back. Caricom refers to the Caribbean Community, a supranational body representing nations in the region. It is understood the events are intended to make the case for reparative justice. There had been hopes among campaigners that Mr Lammy, of Guyanese descent, and Labour generally might be sympathetic to their cause. The Tories refused repeatedly to countenance discussing it. Pressure was brought to bear on Sir Keir at the 2024 Commonwealth summit in Samoa where the issue was forced onto the official agenda but No 10 publicly ruled out payments. Mr Lammy, who was there, had suggested that reparations need not be a 'cash transfer' but could include 'other forms of non-financial reparatory justice too'. The UK signed off on the Commonwealth summit statement which set out the need for 'inclusive conversations' about reparations for slavery, and the need to address 'chattel enslavement… dispossession of indigenous people, indentureship, colonialism' in order to move to a 'future based on equity'. The delegation will be hosted in Parliament on July 2 by Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who heads the all-party parliament group on Afrikan reparations and is a staunch supporter of the cause. Events have been organised and supported by the Repair Campaign, a group which supports Caribbean efforts to secure reparations. The group was founded by Denis O'Brien, the Irish billionaire owner of telecoms giant Digicel. He has overseen the creation of development packages tailored to the needs of Caribbean nations and funded by former colonial powers. Voters of Caribbean descent Baroness Chapman, Minister of State for Development, has also been invited to meet the Caribbean delegation, along with members of the foreign affairs committee. It is understood that invitations have been extended to MPs representing constituencies with a high proportion of voters of Caribbean descent. Events will be held at Portcullis House on the parliamentary estate. Before coming to London, the delegation will travel to Brussels to argue that former slave-trading powers including France and the Netherlands should support paying compensation for the exploitation of enslaved Africans. It includes members of the Reparations Commission for Caricom. The commission has spent more than a decade pushing for Britain to agree to a 10-point plan for reparations, which has been repeatedly rebuffed. Uriel Sabajo will represent the Suriname committee, and Carla Astaphan will be in London to represent St Kitts & Nevis, a former British colony. While they are connected to Caricom, the delegation is not an official group sent by the commission itself. Other delegates expected in London include leading professors from the University of the West Indies, along with Mr O'Brien and his colleagues. British supporters of the movement, including Dr Michael Banner, author and Dean and Fellow of Trinity College, University of Cambridge, will also attend.
AsiaOne
24-06-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
Caribbean delegation to travel to Brussels, London to discuss slavery reparations, World News
LONDON — A Caribbean delegation is set to travel to Brussels and London next month to bring the highly divisive issue of reparations for slavery and colonialism to the table, organisers have told Reuters. At least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported by European ships and sold into slavery from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Calls for reparations are longstanding but have been gaining momentum, particularly among the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the African Union (AU). Backlash against it has also been growing, and many of Europe's leaders have opposed even talking about reparations. Organised by the Repair Campaign, a group advocating for reparations in the Caribbean, the trip will start in Brussels on July 1, where the delegation will host a briefing with European Union (EU) lawmakers. In 2023, the EU said Europe inflicted "untold suffering" on millions of people but even though some member states have acknowledged past wrongs, no country has agreed to reparations. The delegation will then travel to London, where they will hold a briefing in parliament on July 2. The delegation's aim is to "open a dialogue" with European and British representatives about their countries' roles in advancing reparations, according to organisers. The delegation includes Caribbean academics and policy experts, as well as members of national reparations committees established by Caricom member states and backed by their respective governments. Caricom has a reparations plan, which, among other demands, calls for technology transfers and investments to tackle health crises and illiteracy. The AU is developing its own plan. Opponents of reparations argue that contemporary states and institutions should not be held responsible for their past. But advocates say action is needed to address the legacies, such as racism. Britain, which transported an estimated 3.2 million people, the most active European country after Portugal, has also rejected calls for reparations. [[nid:715388]]
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Haitians call for reparations from France on 200th anniversary of independence ‘ransom'
France has a moral duty to reimburse Haiti billions of dollars worth of 'ransom' payments that could help the struggling Caribbean country out of its current crisis, say campaigners. The renewed call for reparations comes on the bicentenary of an agreement to pay 150m francs to France in 1825 to compensate slave-owning colonists after the Haitian Revolution. Though the figure was later reduced to 90m, Fritz Deshommes, president of the Haitian National Committee on Restitution and Reparations (HNCRR), estimates the converted value of the payment today could be between $38bn and $135bn, depending on how the sum is calculated and whether it reflects lost customs revenue and economic stagnation. Once France's most important colony in the Caribbean, Haiti received hundreds of thousands of Africans who had been kidnapped, forcibly transported across the Atlantic and sold into slavery. Related: Battered statue bears witness to Haiti's tragedy, resilience and flickering hope After a bloody struggle between self-liberated slaves and French, Spanish and British forces, it became the first Caribbean nation to gain its independence from colonial rule in 1804. But, under threat of military action, France later demanded what HNCRR member Jean Mozart Feron described as an unjust and exorbitant ransom, supposedly to provide compensation for former enslavers. The enormous payments, Feron said, crippled the fledgling nation. 'This ransom plunged Haiti into a spiral of economic dependency from which it has never fully recovered and … strangled the young nation, stifling its development and diverting precious resources that could have been invested in education and infrastructure,' he said. The debt not only created deep structural poverty, social inequality and weak institutions, but also affected 'the way Haiti is perceived and treated on the international stage without due consideration for this history of economic exploitation', he said. Monique Clesca, spokesperson for the Kolektif Ayisyen Afwodesandan, a civil society organisation that has been campaigning for reparations for Haiti, said the 'monstrous debt' created by the ransom prevented the country from 'moving forward at the rhythm that we should have been moving forward'. 'Politically this meant that we almost became a neocolony, totally indebted to France, not only in terms of economics, but symbolically and politically, we were tied. So there are serious repercussions and consequences to this continuous debt that you can't undo,' she said. The campaigners are calling for France to repay the ransom and offer restitution for the harm caused by slavery and colonisation. The HNCRR is working in alignment with the Caribbean Community (Caricom), which has a 10-point plan for reparatory justice. Speaking at the opening of the UN's Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on Monday, Caricom secretary-general, Dr Carla Barnett, joined the calls for reparations for Haiti. 'The negative economic and social effects of this historical injustice are painfully clear, with arguable links to the situation in Haiti today. This anniversary presents an opportunity to bring global attention and a deeper understanding of the situation in Haiti and serves as a call to action to address the ongoing security, humanitarian and governance crises in the country,' she said. Appealing for global support for Haiti's reparations claim, Heron said: 'Haitian citizens do not hold French people responsible for the decision made in 1825 by the French state. However, we believe that the French people have a moral responsibility and a duty to stand in solidarity with the Haitian people in this initiative.' HNCRR, he said, is of the view that France and Haiti could reach an agreement about the 'types of expertise and technical assistance valued within the framework of restitution'. But Haiti, he added, must ultimately decide how to use the reparations. Related: Haitians fear the imminent fall of Port-au-Prince to rebel gangs: 'We will die standing' Haiti has been gripped by crisis since the 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moïse, and a subsequent gang insurgency which forced Ariel Henry, who led the country as an unelected prime minister after Moïse's death, out of office in March 2024. Since then, support from the international community has failed to restore stable, democratic governance and curb the spiralling violence, which has killed thousands and displaced tens of thousands. Feron dismissed arguments that the current crisis could prevent the country from effectively managing any reparation payments, arguing that the state of the country is a consequence of its history. He added: 'Our committee intends to work closely with the civil society to clearly advise the Haitian state on how this money should be used or could be used and how it should be managed with total transparency in a responsible manner.'
