Caricom leaders and UK on collision course over reparations

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The British government has said that the issue of reparations to the Caribbean for slavery will certainly not be entertained at this week’s Commonwealth leaders’ summit in the Pacific Island nation of Samoa, but Caribbean leaders say their numbers are large enough to force a formal discussion about the transAtlantic slave trade that has helped to enrich the United Kingdom.

In public statements from London this week, the office of Prime Minister Keir Starmer made it clear that “reparations are not on the agenda” while reiterating that Britain does not usually pay reparations.

The stance of the British has set it on a clear collision course with the 12 independent Caribbean nations that will attend the five-day summit commencing on Oct. 21 — they have been signaling in recent months that the time has come to force Britain to own up to the atrocities of slavery.

Dickon Mitchell, Grenada’s prime minister and current chair of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) group, told the AmNews this week that the Caribbean Commonwealth is a 56-nation grouping composed of different groups from Africa, the Pacific, and Asia. No one country should be able to single-handedly dictate the agenda. Caribbean countries will also have a say, he said, noting that there is no better forum to discuss an issue like reparations.

“Reparations and reparatory justice are an issue we are [championing], and will champion, whether the British choose to acknowledge it or not,” he said, noting that for the record, unless the Commonwealth is a one-nation institute, and it is not, the agenda is not a matter for the British only.

“We are seeking partnership in dealing with these atrocities and the consequences of the atrocities from those nations who committed those acts,” Mitchell said. “For the record, unless the Commonwealth is a one-nation institute, and it is not, the agenda is not a matter for the British only. We are dealing with and seeking acknowledgment of the horrors of the Atlantic slave trade; the enslavement of Blacks and persons of African descent in the Caribbean; the plantation and colonization economy that dehumanized, marginalized, and impoverished Blacks and persons of African descent.”

RELATED: Keir Starmer faces slavery reparations demands at Commonwealth summit

Through Trinidadian Prime Minister Keith Rowley, the region had earlier signaled its intention to confront Britain recently at a slavery emancipation ceremony in Port of Spain, the capital. He had said that “Caribbean leaders will very forcefully speak to the Commonwealth as one voice. There is one particular country with a new king and a labor government with an outstanding mandate. We look forward to their reaction in October,” he said.

Through the umbrella reparations Commission (CRC), several governments have already sent payment demand letters to Britain and other European nations like Spain, France, and the Netherlands. They have even hired a British firm to prosecute their case. The advice is that the case is very strong and should be pursued. The response has been lukewarm, says the Guyana-based regional secretariat.

On a visit to Barbados in late 2021, as it switched from an independent nation to a republic, then-Prince Charles (now king), had complained about “the appalling atrocity of slavery,” noting the “darkest days of our past.” “I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many, as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slavery’s enduring impact,” he had said at a previous Commonwealth summit in Rwanda.

Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados, is the designated lead speaker on reparations, since Barbados has long been allocated responsibility for the issue in the regional government set-up of responsibilities. Rowley leads discussions on crime and security.

Other senior Caricom officials, speaking anonymously, are adamant that the final communiqué will have at least three paragraphs on reparations, but British officials are fighting in pre-summit negotiations to keep out words like genocide and atrocities from any final document. “We are also drafting a declaration on reparatory justice, but again, we are encountering opposition from the Brits about the language in it,” said one official.

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