French senators adopted a bill on Wednesday to simplify the return of artworks looted during the colonial era to their countries of origin. The draft legislation was unanimously approved by the upper house and will next be sent to the National Assembly lower house before it can become law.
France still has in its possession tens of thousands of artworks and other prized artifacts that it looted from its colonial empire. President Emmanuel Macron has gone further than his predecessors in admitting past French abuses in Africa.
Speaking on a visit to the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, shortly after taking office in 2017, Macron vowed that France would never again interfere in its former colonies and promised to facilitate the return of African cultural heritage within five years.
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In Senegal, 150 years after being seized by French colonizers, the 'spoils' of Samba Sadio go on display
