LONDON: Commonwealth heads of government are to push for a “conversation” on reparations for the transatlantic slave trade when they meet for the association’s first summit in two years, the BBC reported on Thursday.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the focus of the summit should be on “real challenges on things like climate in the here and now... rather than what will end up being very, very long, endless discussions about reparations on the past”.

But Caricom, a group of 15 Caribbean countries, has indicated it will push the UK government on the issue at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa, which begins on Friday.

Eric Phillips, of Caricom’s commission to seek reparations from former colonial powers such as Britain, France and Portugal, said he did not understand the relevance of the Commonwealth if Starmer “takes this cruel approach”.

UK Labour says govt’s position is not to pay compensations and ruled out an apology at the summit

Discussions were taking place “behind the scenes” in Samoa, however, said Kingsley Abbott, director of London University’s Institute of Commonwealth Studies, who is attending the summit. Diplomatic negotiations have resulted in the issue featuring on the draft summit communique, which the BBC said it had seen. The document, that could still change, says: “Heads, noting calls for discussions on reparatory justice with regard to the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel enslavement... agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity.” The UK did not initially want any language in the communique about reparations, the broadcaster said. Bahamas foreign minister Frederick Mitchell told BBC radio on Thursday: “Once you broach the subject, it may take a while for people to come around but come around they will.” He called on the UK to “apologise” for its role in the slave trade, saying: “It’s a simple matter. It can be done — one sentence, one line.”

Starmer’s official spokesman earlier this week said the UK government’s official position is not to pay reparations and ruled out an apology at the summit.

Members of the Commonwealth, comprised of 56 nations that were mostly former territories of the British empire, “want the conversation to start” but “there appears to be even a reluctance to have the conversation,” Mitchell told the BBC. Opponents of reparations payments say countries should not be held responsible for historical wrongs, while those in favour say the legacy of slavery has led to vast and persistent racial inequality today. “Whenever those affected by atrocities ask to talk, there should always be a willingness to sit down and listen,” Abbott said.

King Charles III is the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth, and 14 of its members, including several in the Caribbean.

He is also attending the summit. The British royal family, which benefited from the slave trade over centuries, has also faced calls to apologise.

CHOGM, which takes place every two years, will see Commonwealth leaders select a new secretary-general nominated from an African country, in line with regional rotations of the position. All three likely candidates have called publicly for reparations for slavery and colonialism.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2024