African and Caribbean nations demand formal apology and reparations for transatlantic slavery
African and Caribbean leaders have formally called on countries that benefited from the transatlantic slave trade to issue an apology. According to BBC, they are also requesting debt relief and financial compensation, with the issue expected to reach the UN agenda.
A group of leaders from the African Union and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have issued a joint declaration calling on European states that profited from four centuries of the transatlantic slave trade to issue formal apologies. According to BBC Africa, their demands also include debt relief, direct reparations and a structural development fund.
The initiative combines the Caribbean's long-running calls over former colonisation with the work of the CARICOM Reparations Commission. The leaders said they would press for a comprehensive solution at the United Nations General Assembly and request bilateral talks with the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Portugal in particular.
London and Lisbon have previously expressed « regrets » about the past but have stopped short of formal apologies or reparations. Brussels has said individual member states must define their own positions. CARICOM is asking for technical work on a pilot structural development fund to begin before the end of the year.
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