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UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said the concept of reparations for former colonial nations affected by slavery “is not about the transfer of cash”.

In his first comments since 56 Commonwealth leaders signed a statement saying the time had come for a conversation about reparations, Lammy told the BBC that was not “the debate people are wanting to have”.

Last week, the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) summit in Samoa amplified growing calls for the United Kingdom to engage in meaningful discussions on reparations for countries impacted by slavery and colonialism.

Commonwealth leaders have agreed the “time has come” for a conversation about reparations for the slave trade, despite the UK’s desire to keep the subject off the agenda at a two-day summit in Samoa.

At the summit, a demand that the United Kingdom pay reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade has resurfaced. While the subject is not on the official agenda, Commonwealth leaders said they would hold their own discussions – with or without the approval of the British government.

Commonwealth leaders, ending a week-long summit in Samoa, said on Saturday the time had come for a discussion on whether Britain should commit to reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade.
Slavery and the threat of climate change were major themes for representatives of the 56 countries in the group, most with roots in Britain’s empire, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that began in the Pacific Islands nation on Monday.

King Charles and Keir Starmer have faced renewed calls for Britain to pay slavery reparations which could far exceed £200 billion ahead of the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chgom) in Samoa from 21-26 October.

“The conversation gives us the dignity of agency which has been deprived of us by the actions of the Church of England.”

However, the Task Force wishes to make clear that as admirable and praise-worthy as this project is, we do not consider it to be a reparations or a reparatory justice project. Rather, we consider it to be a social justice project that is, no doubt, rooted in the strong ecumenical outreach and principles of the USPG.

Over the last decade, the Caribbean reparatory justice movement has seen an unprecedented injection of energy from private and public entities including governments, inter/non-governmental organisations, educational institutions, families, and activists, building on the centuries-old movement for emancipation and decolonisation more broadly.

The chairman of the National Reparations Commission in Suriname, Armand Zunder, says the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country “can and must learn” from its regional neighbours on how to tackle the decolonization process expeditiously

The Haitian government has appointed Fritz Deshommes, the rector of the State University of Haiti (UEH), as the country’s representative to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Reparations Commission, tasked with ensuring reparations and restitution.

In recognizing Emancipation Day on Thursday, August 1, 2024, the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Hon. PJ Patterson in an address observing the day, expressed optimism, and acknowledged that support from nations within the Commonwealth, particularly nations in Africa and the Caribbean, could significantly accelerate the implementation of reparation justice.