Officials at a reparations conference this week announced that Caribbean nations are preparing a comprehensive strategy to compel the United Kingdom into formal negotiations regarding slavery reparations. The effort, discussed at a Caricom Regional Conference on Reparations hosted by Barbados, includes both diplomatic and legal approaches.
Caribbean leaders are seeking to engage the UK at upcoming Commonwealth and UN summits, though they have indicated willingness to pursue international legal proceedings if Britain maintains its refusal to negotiate. Earlier this month, a British government representative restated the UK’s established position that it will not provide reparations payments.
Ralph Gonsalves, former prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines and an adviser for the Repair Campaign, emphasized the importance of a unified regional approach. He argued that reparations frameworks should be realistic and implemented across generations. Gonsalves contended that Britain’s ratification of contemporary UN conventions creates binding legal obligations for reparative justice, specifically citing the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Potential legal strategies under consideration include Jamaica’s approach of engaging with UK national judicial systems, such as the Privy Council, as well as seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice. David Comissiong, deputy chair of the Barbados National Task Force on Reparations, indicated that multiple legal pathways are being evaluated.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley stressed that the Caribbean seeks justice rather than financial hardship for Britain. She referenced a report commissioned by Barbados earlier this year documenting that slavery extracted 25 million years of life and labour from the nation. Mottley drew comparisons to Germany’s $95bn compensation to the Jewish community regarding Holocaust-related damages, highlighting the historical duration and severity of enslavement in the Caribbean region.
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