HEADS of government across the Commonwealth are preparing to defy the United Kingdom and look at plans for reparatory justice for the transatlantic slave trade.
Downing Street has already insisted the issue is not on the agenda for a summit of 56 Commonwealth countries, which begins in the Pacific island of Samoa on Friday.
According to the BBC, diplomatic sources said officials were negotiating an agreement to start a “meaningful conversation” about the issue.
Speaking to the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, foreign minister of the Bahamas Frederick Mitchell said: “Once you broach the subject it may take a while for people to come around but come around they will.”
Reparations in terms of justice for slavery can come in many forms, such as financial reparations or an official apology.
The current text of the draft summit communique, which has been obtained by the BBC, reads: “Heads, noting calls for discussions on reparatory justice with regard to the transatlantic slave trade in enslaved Africans and chattel enslavement … agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity.”
It adds that the heads of government would play an “active role in bringing about such inclusive conversations addressing these harms” and that they agreed “to prioritise and facilitate further and additional research on the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel slavery that encourages and supports the conversations and informs a way forward”.
In the run-up to this summit, there has been growing calls from Commonwealth leaders for the UK to apologise for its role in the slave trade.
The draft communique further states that a majority of member states “share common historical experiences in relation to this abhorrent trade, chattel enslavement, the debilitation and dispossession of indigenous people”.
It also refers to “blackbirding,” a process where islanders were tricked or kidnapped into slave or cheap labour in colonies throughout the region.
Diplomats have also said the expectation is that reparatory justice would be a central focus on the agenda for the next Commonwealth summit in two years in the Caribbean.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy (above) has said the UK has heard calls for slavery reparations “loud and clear” but further added that the Prime Minister was “right” to “focus on the future”.
A spokesperson for the UK Government would not comment on the leaked document but did tell the BBC: “Reparations are not on the agenda for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting.
“The government’s position has not changed – we do not pay reparations.
“We are focused on using the summit to discuss the shared opportunities which we can unlock across the Commonwealth – including securing more economic growth."
