More than 50 countries affected by slavery ask UK for ‘historic reparations’

The Commonwealth is described as “a voluntary association of 56 independent nations”. States that were formerly part of the British Empire – with a past of imperialism and slavery -, meets every two years in a summit with representatives of the government and leaders of the United Kingdom.

Last week, the last government meeting in Rwanda in 2022 took place in the independent state of Samoa, a group of Polynesian islands with a population of 225,681.

The main agenda of this meeting has been reported by the international media Combat climate change and establishing a contract Protection of oceans and water bodies In Commonwealth countries – in addition to other strategic funding targets for the climate agenda.

Topics such as gender equality were also discussed, and, at the end of the session, member states were expected to produce a joint final report.

The theme was then Historical compensations For countries that have suffered for centuries Slave exploitation And transatlantic transmigration of people of African descent emerged, and embarrassed members of the British government – because it was not on the agenda for this year’s meeting.

Between the 15th and 19th centuries, At least 12.5 million Africans They were forcibly transported on ships for the bustling slave trade between the European and American powers of the time. The largest slave trading nation during this period was the British Empire, which for centuries acted as an intermediary for this lucrative trade to monoculture colonies.

In April last year, Al Jazeera, the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak of the Conservative Party (2022 to 2024), He refused to issue a formal apology for the British Empire’s role in the slave trade, and rejected the possibility of cash payments for reparations.

Keir Starmer, the current Prime Minister from the Labor Party, confirmed the issue was not on the committee’s agenda – and would not be included. Despite considering the topic of slavery to be a “hateful” past in the United Kingdom’s history, Starmer said he should “roll up his sleeves” and “work on current challenges” rather than “waste time”.

The argument of some Commonwealth heads of state, such as the Prime Minister of the Grenadines in the Caribbean, is that this past continues to be a relevant marker in the present of countries that have no basis for building independent nations. No land, no money, no training or education,” said the islands’ prime minister, Ralph Gonsalves. The Guardian.

returns

In October this year, the United Kingdom finalized an agreement with its former colony, the Republic of Mauritius, which became independent in 1968.

The contract is awarded Return to the Islands of the Chacos Archipelago (a group of over 60 islands in the Indian Ocean), as well as re-establishing the sovereignty of the Republic of Mauritius, but with one caveat: British administration could continue to operate on the main island of the archipelago, US-affiliated military base.

According to a clause in the signed agreement, the Diego Garcia site, built by the United States with Great Britain in the 1970s, will continue to be managed by the United Kingdom “for an initial period of 99 years”.