SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Caribbean leaders sat down with high-ranking members of the Church of England on Tuesday as momentum builds behind the push for slavery reparations, with activists also demanding independence for British, French, Dutch, and U.S. territories across the region.
The reparations commission representing Caricom, a Caribbean trade organization, was also scheduled to meet with British lawmakers during a four-day official visit to the United Kingdom — the second such trip since November. The group says it is now developing a formal framework to begin negotiations, arguing that the time for action on reparatory justice has long passed.
“We in the Caribbean remain the most colonized part of the world, and this has to stop,” said Hilary Beckles, who chairs Caricom’s reparations commission and serves as vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies.
The London meetings follow growing frustration among Caribbean leaders after a U.K. lawmaker recently suggested that Britain’s former colonies should repay it for past investments. The commission pointed out that the Caribbean includes at least 20 territories with ongoing ties to Britain, France, the Netherlands, and the United States.
Beckles also weighed in on the role of the British monarchy, saying, “I am quite sure the people of the Caribbean … will be looking to see whether their king … is going to advance this conversation about sovereignty, decolonization and reparatory justice for these crimes that have been committed.”
Barbados’ ambassador to Caricom, David Comissiong, reinforced that message, emphasizing that the first step in any reparations process must be the restoration of national sovereignty and self-determination.
Comissiong described the session with three senior Church of England clergy as a “productive meeting,” calling the church a “possible ally” in the effort. He also acknowledged King Charles III for expressing “personal sorrow at the suffering of so many” and recognizing “slavery’s enduring impact” in recent years.
At the same time, Comissiong and fellow commission members criticized the United Kingdom for abstaining from a United Nations resolution passed in March that called for reparations and labeled the trafficking of enslaved Africans “the gravest crime against humanity.” All 27 European Union member nations also abstained, while Argentina, Israel, and the United States voted against the measure.
Comissiong acknowledged that some European governments have offered apologies, built memorials and museums, and worked to preserve slavery-related sites along Africa’s west coast.
“These are some preliminary gestures that we appreciate,” he said. “But those gestures are not negotiations. … The damage that was done and that still exists today was so consequential, so deeply rooted, that it goes way beyond, way beyond gestures of memorialization.”
Historians estimate that approximately 12 million Africans were forcibly removed by European nations between the 16th and 19th centuries. Those who survived the brutal voyage across the Atlantic were enslaved on Caribbean plantations and elsewhere under horrific conditions.
Commission members addressed reporters in London ahead of their meeting with parliamentarians. One key question raised was whether the commission would establish clear guidelines on who would be eligible to receive reparations — a question that remains unresolved for the Caribbean region.
Ron Daniels, who leads the National African-American Reparations Commission, noted that discussions in the United States have focused on land, economic development, and rebuilding or expanding communications and healthcare infrastructure. “Reparations is proceeding quite effectively in the United States as a blueprint,” Daniels said.
Among the items Caricom leaders are seeking: a formal apology, improvements in education and public health, development initiatives for Indigenous communities, opportunities for repatriation and resettlement, debt cancellation, and monetary compensation, among other demands.
In early September, Jamaica’s government is expected to submit a formal petition asking King Charles III to refer legal questions surrounding slavery reparations to the Privy Council, which serves as the island’s highest court of appeal.
