Saint Lucia Prime Minister and Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Philip J. Pierre, has reiterated the region’s position that reparatory justice must form part of any structured dialogue with the United Kingdom on the legacy of slavery.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Pierre said CARICOM had taken careful note of remarks published by United Kingdom Prime Minister Andy Burnham concerning Britain’s role in the transatlantic trafficking and chattel enslavement of Africans, ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda.
Burnham reportedly expressed personal sorrow and regret for the suffering caused by slavery and its continuing effects. He also indicated that he was open to issuing a formal apology on behalf of the British state and offered structured dialogue with those affected.
Pierre described the developments as significant, noting that no British Prime Minister had previously gone as far as Burnham in expressing such a position.
He said CARICOM welcomed the offer, particularly given that the regional organisation had been requesting such engagement for more than a decade.
“We are ready to engage,” Pierre stated.
However, he made clear that the Community disagreed with Burnham’s position that reparations were “not the right answer”.
Pierre argued that reparatory justice was not about assigning personal guilt to present-day British citizens, but rather recognising the responsibility of states and institutions for historical crimes and their lasting consequences.
He pointed to Britain’s role in legislating, protecting and profiting from slavery, as well as the compensation paid to enslavers following emancipation, while formerly enslaved people received no land, wealth or compensation.
The Prime Minister also noted that the loan raised to compensate enslavers continued to be repaid by British taxpayers until February 2015.
According to Pierre, the effects of slavery remain evident across the Caribbean, contributing to chronic disease, educational and economic inequalities, fragile economies structured around extraction and mounting national debt.
He maintained that while a formal apology would represent an important historical development, it would not be sufficient without practical measures to address the damage caused.
“An apology without repair is incomplete,” he said.
Pierre called for discussions to include every element of CARICOM’s Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice. The plan outlines measures including a formal apology, improved public health, education and training, cultural heritage restitution, psychological rehabilitation, technology and entrepreneurship, debt cancellation, monetary compensation and decolonisation.
He also called for the dialogue to address the genocide of Indigenous peoples and the harm inflicted on people brought from India and China to sustain colonial systems.
Pierre further acknowledged the United Kingdom’s initiative, to be led by former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, to restructure the debt of the poorest Commonwealth countries.
He said CARICOM would examine the proposal seriously, but cautioned that many member states were excluded from concessional debt relief because they were classified as middle- or high-income countries, despite their vulnerability to climate-related and economic shocks.
“Any initiative that is to be meaningful for our region must measure vulnerability, not income alone,” he stated.
He added that debt relief, while welcome, could not replace reparatory justice.
He indicated that the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Reparations, led by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, and the CARICOM Reparations Commission, chaired by Sir Hilary Beckles, are prepared to work with the British Government to establish the terms, agenda and timetable for structured discussions.
Pierre said he looked forward to meeting Burnham in St John’s, Antigua, during the upcoming Commonwealth meeting.
He maintained that the region had a responsibility to pursue justice for those who suffered under slavery and for future generations, saying the work must continue “with dignity, with patience, and with resolve.”
