Caribbean states seek compo for slavery past

Photo / Thinkstock

A coalition of Caribbean countries has unveiled its demands for reparations from Britain and other European nations for the enduring legacy of the slave trade.

The leaders of 15 states adopted a plan that includes seeking a formal apology from former colonial powers, debt cancellation, greater development aid, as well as unspecified financial damages for the "psychological trauma" from the days of plantation slavery.

The demands to be made of former slaving nations such as Britain, France, Spain, Portugal and Holland were agreed at a meeting of the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

The group hired Leigh Day, a British law firm, to push its claims after the company secured a 20 million ($39.2 million) compensation award for Kenyans who were tortured by colonial authorities during the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s.

The reparations debate has long simmered in the Caribbean where many blame slavery for modern ills, ranging from economic weakness to health epidemics such as diabetes. Caricom is pushing for increased technological assistance as it says European powers shackled the region during the world's industrialisation by confining it to producing and exporting raw materials such as sugar.

The plan also demands an increase of aid for public health and educational and cultural institutions such as museums and research centres. And it calls for the creation of "repatriation programmes" to help resettle members of the Rastafarian movement in Africa.

Martin Day, of Leigh Day, said he would request a meeting with European officials to seek a settlement, but would pursue a legal complaint if Caribbean nations were not satisfied with the outcome.

In 2007, Tony Blair, the then Prime Minister, expressed "deep sorrow and regret" for the "unbearable suffering" caused by Britain's role in slavery, but stopped short of a formal apology.

The British Government, which contributes about 15 million a year in development to the Caribbean, has consistently opposed financial reparations.

"The UK has been clear that we deplore the human suffering caused by slavery and the slave trade," a Foreign Office spokesman said. "However, we do not see reparations as the answer.

"Instead, we should concentrate on identifying ways forward with a focus on the shared global challenges that face our countries in the 21st century."