By Salma El-Sakka
Leading figures in the Caribbean reparatory justice movement have warned that British offers of debt relief and development assistance cannot substitute for reparations for centuries of slavery. Their comments follow an announcement by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham that he wants to begin a structured dialogue on slavery and reparations and is open to an apology, but has ruled out direct reparations payments.
Burnham Offers Dialogue and Infrastructure Funding
At the Commonwealth summit in Antigua, Burnham proposed discussions on debt resets for smaller Commonwealth nations and announced £40 million ($54 million) for critical infrastructure in the Caribbean over the next three years. He said the UK wants to build stronger relationships and renew the relevance of the Commonwealth by facing the past together.
Caribbean Figures Demand Reparations, Not Aid
Ralph Gonsalves, former prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines and a senior figure in the Repair Campaign, said the region would welcome Burnham's offer but would resist any attempt to treat debt restructuring or development assistance as a form of reparation. The Caribbean Community's reparations commission's 10-point plan specifically calls for debt cancellation and monetary compensation, arguing that existing debts are tied to centuries of colonial extraction.
Gonsalves added that reducing reparatory justice to development assistance risks making such assistance discretionary on the UK's part. He stressed that the 10-point plan includes ecological repair, psychological repair, and repatriation for those who wish to return to Africa, which carry financial implications beyond standard development goals.
Reparations Must Involve Affected Communities
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Afrikan Reparations, said the issue is fundamentally about agency. Speaking at the launch of a global reparations caravan, she argued that reparative justice arrangements must be made with those affected, not imposed on them. Prof Kingsley Abbott, director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, echoed that harmed communities must have a decisive say in what reparations entail.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said the prime minister wants to build stronger relationships by facing the past together and focusing on a future of equality, security, and hope, and remains committed to working with Commonwealth partners on global debt, climate crisis, and economic development.
