As the 56 Commonwealth countries prepare for their summit in Samoa, diplomatic sources have stated that a number of leaders are gearing up to challenge the UK’s stance on the need to examine reparatory justice for the transatlantic slave trade. A draft communique which has been viewed by the BBC includes three paragraphs discussing plans for further research, and ‘a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation’ on the subject. The UK has managed to prevent the release of an entirely separate document focusing exclusively on reparatory justice, however, the issue is unmistakably on the agenda. The official position from Downing Street is that the issue is not under discussion.
Excluding the fact that the UK government is unlikely to pay reparations, diplomatic sources suggest that the potential compensation owed could amount to billions of pounds. Reparatory justice can take many different forms, ranging from financial compensation and debt relief, to university bursaries and public health assistance.
Frederick Mitchell, the foreign minister of the Bahamas, has stated that the issue of reparatory justice will not be easily resolved, however, he believes that it will eventually be addressed. The draft that has been leaked potentially paves the way for Caribbean countries to come together and continue to pressure the UK to make reparations for its role in the slave trade. Prior to the start of the summit, there has been increasing pressure from leaders within the Commonwealth for the UK to apologise and make reparations worth trillions of pounds for its role in the slave trade. A 2017 report by the University of West Indies, backed by Patrick Robinson, a Justice on the International Court of Justice, concluded that the UK owed more than £18tn in reparations for the part it played in slavery across 14 Caribbean states.
Although the claims for compensation have historically been associated with the Atlantic slave trade, officials from Caricom, the body which represents Caribbean countries, are reported to be seeking ways to broaden the issue so that it includes the Pacific slave trade, or ‘blackbirding’ when Pacific Islanders were tricked or kidnapped into slave or cheap labour across the region. Diplomatic sources predict that reparatory justice will be central to discussions at the next Commonwealth summit, which will take place in Antigua and Barbuda in two years’ time
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