‘Time has come’ to debate slavery reparations, say Commonwealth leaders

Commonwealth leaders, concluding a week-long summit in Samoa, said on Saturday the time had come to debate whether Britain should commit to paying reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade.

Slavery and the threat of climate change were major topics for representatives of the group’s 56 countries, most with roots in the British empire, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that began in the Pacific island nation on Monday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose country has long rejected calls for financial compensation for nations affected by slavery, said the summit discussions were “not about money.”

On slavery, the leaders said in a joint statement that they had “agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation to forge a common future based on equity.”

Pressure for former colonial powers like Britain to pay reparations or make other reparations for slavery and its legacies has gained momentum around the world, particularly among the Caribbean Community and the African Union.

The statement also made reference to “blackbirding,” a term for people from places like the Pacific Islands who are tricked, coerced or kidnapped into working on plantations in Australia and elsewhere.

Opponents of reparations say countries should not be held responsible for historical wrongs, while those in favor say the legacy of slavery has led to vast and persistent racial inequality.

The joint statement did not mention what form reparations should take.

Starmer told a news conference that the joint statement did two things: “it takes note of the calls for discussion and agrees that now is the time for a conversation.”

“But I must be very clear: in the two days that we have been here, none of the discussions have been about money. Our position is very, very clear in relation to that,” he said.

Professor Kingsley Abbott, director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, said the statement was a sign of a potentially historic breakthrough on the issue.

“Commitment to conversations about restorative justice opens the door to dialogue, and now the hard work really begins,” said Abbott, who attended the summit.

The joint statement also referred to concern about “the serious consequences of the climate crisis, including rising temperatures and sea levels.”

More than half of the Commonwealth’s members are small nations, many of them low-lying islands at risk from rising sea levels caused by climate change.

NEW BOSS

Commonwealth members elected Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey as the group’s new general secretary. Botchwey, a supporter of reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism, replaces the British Patricia Scotland, who has held the position since 2016.

King Charles and Queen Camilla, who attended the summit, left Samoa after a visit in which the monarch acknowledged the Commonwealth’s “painful” history.

Before leaving, the royal couple attended a farewell ceremony in heavy rain in the village of Siumu.

Charles said in a speech at the summit on Friday that he understood “from listening to people across the Commonwealth how the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate.”

“It is vital, therefore, that we understand our history, to guide us towards making the right decisions in the future,” he said.

The king and queen’s stay in Samoa followed a six-day tour of Australia, where large crowds turned out to see them at the Sydney Opera House. Charles also met with Indigenous elders in Sydney, after being interrupted by an Indigenous senator in Canberra.