Jamaica plans to demand compensation for slavery from Britain

SAN JUAN, July 14 (EFE) — The government of Caribbean region Jamaica plans to demand compensation from the United Kingdom for the centuries-old slave trade, a figure that could reach billions of dollars.

Local media collected this Wednesday statements from Jamaica’s Minister of Sport, Youth and Culture, Olivia Grange, in which she estimated that the Kingston executive plans to request London compensation for the damages caused to some 600,000 Africans. to repair the damage. taken from their countries.

The island, under Spanish sovereignty from 1494, came under British control in 1655, from which date a slave trade developed, destined to work in the sugarcane plantations and other crops.

Grange said Jamaica awaits justice to repair the damage done to its ancestors.

pulled by force

“Our African ancestors were forcibly evicted from their homes and faced unprecedented atrocities to do forced labor for the benefit of the British Empire,” he condemned.

Jamaica, a British colony until independence in 1962, is a country of approximately 3 million inhabitants with the monarch of the United Kingdom as the head of state, represented by the governor general.

Although Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807, it did not formally abolish the practice until 1834.

At the end of slavery, the British government compensated the slave owners.

$10,000 million claim

Grange’s words take as reference a claim by Jamaican legislator Mike Henry, who set up compensation to the United Kingdom at $10 billion, in exchange for what London paid to slave owners to end that practice.

However, Grange did not provide any figure that came close to the UK required figure.

The process now requires the approval of the National Repair Council before the Attorney General can send it to Queen Elizabeth of England.

The petition also coincided with increasing efforts by some social circles in Jamaica to break formal ties with the United Kingdom.

resolutions against the British monarchy

Opposition MP Mikel Phillips filed a motion in December to remove the British monarch as Jamaica’s head of state.

The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Motley, in July 2020 asked European countries and the United States for an economic resettlement plan for Caribbean countries as compensation for the damage caused by slavery and colonialism to the region. .

Thus the Motley Fool highlights the historic claim of the countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for economic reform for the transatlantic slave trade.

The Motley Fool noted that as a result of the slave trade and colonialism, the area was now one of the most indebted places in the world.

As a result, he called for an economic resettlement plan with funds from Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States to correct the imbalance, as significant sums of money in the region were used to build those countries. , as was condemned.

On June 17, 2020, The United Nations Human Rights Council urged countries to confront the legacy of slavery and colonialism, including formal amnesty and reparations in various forms. EFE

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