Caribbean slavery reparations body decries claims it aims to break UK Treasury'

"In a press conference on Tuesday he said the conversation and debate around reparations was important, but stressed that it was critical to raise awareness of the enduring harm caused when African people were kidnapped, enslaved and oppressed and when Caribbean countries were later left, after independence, with no resources, bankrupt treasuries [and] no economic strategies. We have spoken historically about how Britain has extracted wealth from our societies, our communities"

"All dimensions of our civilisation have been subject to severe extraction of wealth that has helped to build out the institutions of this country and to build up the nation that is Great Britain today, he said, adding that the Caribbean was not seeking to offer the same extractive agenda. The reparations movement, he said, was about collaboration between former colonies and former colonisers, justice for crimes committed against humanity, and reparations for the resulting human suffering that still persisted today."

"Speaking at a lecture in London on Monday, he said the CRC's ultimate aim was for the UK and its former colonies to identify mutual strategies for mutual benefits. Every week, we open the newspapers and we hear the most terrible things about these reparations people from the Caribbean. Some have said that we have come here to break the British Treasury by demanding millions and"

The Caricom Reparations Commission rejects claims that reparations demands aim to break the British Treasury and calls instead for a mutually beneficial restorative justice programme. The commission highlights enduring harms from the kidnapping, enslavement and oppression of African people and the post-independence economic depletion that left Caribbean nations with bankrupt treasuries and no economic strategies. The commission asserts that Britain historically extracted substantial wealth from Caribbean societies, contributing to Britain’s institutions and national development. The reparations movement is framed as collaboration between former colonies and former colonisers to pursue justice for crimes against humanity and remedial measures for ongoing human suffering.

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