MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Caricom delegation touring UK to discuss slavery reparations

“The global movement for reparations is entering a new wave of impact,” Beckles argued

A delegation from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) is visiting the United Kingdom this week to engage in discussions regarding their history of slavery and the contentious issue of reparations.

The delegation, representing Caricom's Reparations Commission, is meeting with British politicians and civil society representatives between Nov. 17 and 20 to “strengthen strategic alliances and increase public knowledge about the region's colonial past and its movements in favor of reparations.”

Hilary Beckles, Chairman of the Caricom Reparations Commission, highlighted the significance of the timing. “The global movement for reparations is entering a new wave of impact, visibility, and mobilization, and grassroots activists, academics, and progressive civil society organizations in Great Britain have a fundamental role to play in amplifying the advances and the message of clarification,” he explained.

The demand for reparations centers on the period between the 15th and 19th centuries, during which over 12.5 million Africans were forcibly abducted, transported to the Americas, and sold into slavery. The topic remains itchy for the British government.

Prior to last year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer indicated a preference to “look toward the future” rather than engaging in “long and endless discussions about past reparations.”

However, at the conclusion of that summit, the leaders of the 56-nation Commonwealth group, led by King Charles III, agreed to include in their final communiqué that the time had come to open a debate on the issue.

The diplomatic push comes amid recent survey data suggesting widespread public ignorance but openness to apology within the UK: 89% of adults surveyed were unaware that their country had enslaved people in the Caribbean for over 300 years. Additionally, 63% support a formal apology to the descendants of enslaved people, and 40% support backing economic reparations.