Why are Commonwealth leaders asking the UK for reparations?

Calls for the UK to pay reparations for slavery have grown louder in recent years.

Shortly after World War II, former British colonies in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean began to gain independence.

This independence movement led some countries to demand financial compensation for everything they had suffered under British rule.

More recently, social media, the Black Lives Matter movement, changes to the monarchy and the challenges posed by climate change have seen the campaign for reparations gain momentum.

This week, both the king and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where the two face each other renewed calls for reparations.

What are repairs?

In 1661, Barbados became the first British colony to operate under a “slave code.”

This gave Britain the legal right to take people from its colonies in Africa on deadly ship voyages to the Caribbean, where they were treated as property and forced to work for no money.

They grew sugar, cotton and tobacco, among other products which they then sold for a profit, bolstering Britain’s economy and infrastructure.

The Royal Family was also heavily involved in the slave trade.

Slavery was abolished by the United Kingdom in 1834, and the British Empire only formally ended with the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

Following abolition, the British government paid former slave owners compensation – for the loss of “property” – amounting to 20 million pounds (the equivalent of 300 million pounds today).

No compensation or relocation offer was offered to former slaves or their families. This is what Commonwealth countries are now asking for in reparations.

How do royals participate?

As heads of state, the British kings and queens were heavily involved in slavery.

Starting in the 16th century, Elizabeth I sold a ship to one of the country’s largest slave traders, John Hawkins.

Both James I and Charles I granted monopolies over the slave trade in Africa and Guinea, respectively, to merchants connected to royalty.

In 1663, Charles II founded the Royal African Company, which brought more slaves to the Caribbean than any other institution. He also appointed judges to strengthen the legal framework of the system, effectively turning it into a state enterprise.

Successive monarchs then defended slavery and used their power to defend British slave chiefs.

Before becoming king, William IV, then Duke of Clarence, boasted of the time he spent in the Caribbean befriending planters and contracting a sexual disease. Before the trade was abolished in 1834, he claimed that slaves were “comparatively in a state of humble happiness.”

What is requested?

Fifteen Caribbean governments, which form CARICOM (Caribbean Community), have created a 10-point plan for “restorative justice.”

This includes a formal apology for slavery, a development program to help nations with their economies, the growing difficulties caused by climate change and out of poverty.

It begins: “More than 10 million Africans were stolen from their homes and forcibly transported to the Caribbean as enslaved chattel and property of Europeans.

“This trade in chained bodies was a highly successful commercial venture for the nations of Europe.

“The lives of millions of men, women and children were destroyed in the pursuit of profit. The descendants of these stolen people have the legal right to return to their homeland.

“A repatriation program must be established and all available channels of international law and diplomacy must be used to resettle those who wish to return.”

He argues that “European colonial rule is a persistent part of Caribbean life” and its repercussions are the “main cause of development failure in the Caribbean.”

Why £205bn?

As the reparations movement has gained momentum, experts have tried to calculate how much Britain and other former colonial powers should pay.

Earlier this year, the Reverend Dr Michael Banner, dean of Trinity College, Cambridge, said Britain owed £205bn in reparations.

In 2023, a report by a US consultancy firm, the American Society of International Law and the University of the West Indies, concluded that the UK owes 14 countries a total of $24 trillion (£18.8 trillion). .

The report was led by prominent International Court of Justice (ICJ) judge Patrick Robinson.

Some UK institutions have offered reparations for their role in the slave trade, including the Church of England, parts of the NHS in Scotland and the University of Glasgow.

What has the United Kingdom said?

Both the King and Sir Keir have avoided directly addressing the issue on their trip to Samoa.

in a Thursday speechThe King said he understood how “the most painful aspects of our past resonate” and how “history (can) guide us to make the right decisions in our future.”

He addressed the “mistakes of the past” and said his family would commit to “learning lessons and finding creative ways to correct enduring inequalities.”

She has previously expressed her “deep pain” over the slave trade, and was described as “abhorrent” by her son Prince William last year.

Although the royal has not gone further, the king has suggested he would support research into his family’s links to slavery.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir has said reparations are not yet on the table.

“On the question of where we are heading, I think we should look forward,” he told reporters.

“I have spoken to many of our Commonwealth colleagues in the Commonwealth family and they face real challenges on things like climate here and now.

“And in all the conversations I’ve had with them, what they’re most interested in is whether we can help them work with international institutions, financial institutions on the kind of packages they need right now in relation to the challenges they face right now. “

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