On first official visit to UK, leaders say aim is not to ‘break the British Treasury’ but to find solution to help clean up ‘mess’ left by colonialism
The Caribbean’s slavery reparations body has decried misleading press reports that suggest their aim is to “break the British Treasury” by demanding trillions of pounds, as they mutually beneficial restorative justice programme.
Prof Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC), which was set up to progress the Caribbean’s pursuit of justice for centuries of enslavement and colonisation by European nations, made the comments during the body’s first official visit to the UK.
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”.
