British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has acknowledged the possibility of providing non-financial reparations to some Commonwealth nations, The Guardian reported, offering some form of retroactive justice for the transatlantic slave trade.
This could include the UK providing debt relief for countries with previously enslaved populations, running educational programs on the history of slavery, or providing economic and public health support. However, Starmer has rejected the possibility that the British government would issue a formal apology to its former colonies.
The call for greater acknowledgment of the former imperial power’s role in the slave trade and for reparatory justice came at a summit between 56 Commonwealth member countries in Samoa.
Caribbean countries are among those pushing hardest on the issue, the BBC reported, and have collectively set up a reparations commission with demands such as establishing cultural institutions that provide a “restoration of historical memory.”
It comes after an Indigenous Australian senator last week staged a protest about “stolen wealth” during King Charles’ visit to the country.
King Charles, who as British monarch is the head of the Commonwealth, acknowledged the “painful” history of slavery as part of his official address to member nations at the summit, but did not mention reparations.