New calls for reparations

Caribbean countries have renewed calls for Britain to pay slavery reparations following the accession of King Charles III to the British throne.

Politicians and activists for former colonies in the Caribbean want to remove the monarch as their head of state. Charles succeeded his mother, Queen Elizabeth, who ruled for 70 years. She died on Thursday, aged 96.  Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced the island is mourning Elizabeth, as a many English-speaking Caribbean countries.

But for many there is opposition to the role a distant monarch plays in the 21st century. Earlier this year, some Commonwealth leaders were opposed at a summit in Kigali, Rwanda, about succession of the 56-nation federation from Elizabeth to Charles. And an eight-day tour in March by now heir-to-the-throne Prince William and his wife, Kate, to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas was marked by calls for reparation payments and an apology for slavery. 

More than 10 million Africans were shackled into the Atlantic slave trade by European nations between the 15th and 19th centuries. Those who survived the brutal voyage were forced to labour on plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas.

Jamaican reparations advocate Rosalea Hamilton said Charles’ comments at the Kigali conference about his personal sorrow over slavery offered “some degree of hope that he will learn from the history, understand the painful impact that many nations have endured ‘til today” and address the need for reparations.

The Advocates Network, which Hamilton coordinates, published an open letter calling for “apologies and reparations” during William and Kate’s visit. The

Jamaica’s government last year announced plans to ask Britain for compensation for forcibly transporting 600,000 Africans to work on sugar cane and banana plantations that created fortunes for British slave holders.

Jamaica announced it may soon follow Barbados in ditching royal rule. Both remain members of the Commonwealth. A recent survey showed 56 percent of Jamaicans favour becoming a republic. Allen Chastanet, a former St Lucia prime minister and now leader of the opposition, backs a “general” movement toward republicanism in his country. Following the Queen’s death, Antigua and Barbuda announced it will soon become a republic.

Jamaica’s Governor General Sir Patrick Allen and PM Holness will attend the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in London on 19 September. Jamaica is in official mourning up to the funeral day and will hold a day of mourning on Sunday, 18 September when all official social activities will shut down. Only church, funeral services and marriage ceremonies will be permitted throughout the period. Flags are at half-mast, as in many other countries.