Ralph Gonsalves insists that reparations for the transatlantic slave trade must be a key agenda item at the upcoming Commonwealth summit. He emphasizes the growing movement advocating for reparatory justice across Caribbean nations.
Key points
Ralph Gonsalves advocates for slavery reparations at Commonwealth summit
The Repair Campaign promotes reparatory justice
Gonsalves established the Caribbean reparations commission
Commonwealth includes 56 countries, many from the Caribbean and Africa
Mentioned in this story
Ralph GonsalvesRepair CampaignCaribbean CommunityDenis O’Brien
It is “inconceivable” that reparatory justice from Britain for the transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans will not be “front and centre” of the next Commonwealth leaders meeting, the former prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines has said.
Ralph Gonsalves was in Jamaica to discuss the next steps of the “alive and growing” movement to advocate for reparations for hundreds of years of chattel slavery.
The opposition leader was recently appointed an elder and adviser for the Repair Campaign, a social movement for reparatory justice founded by the Irish telecoms tycoon Denis O’Brien.
Gonsalves was instrumental in setting up the Caribbean Community’s (Caricom) reparations commission to support Caribbean governments’ call for recognition of the lasting legacy of colonialism and enslavement, and for reparative justice from former colonisers.
He said that the leaders of the 56-country Commonwealth grouping, which includes 33 Caribbean and African nations, cannot ignore the strong momentum towards a reparations resolution.
Between the 15th and the 19th century, more than 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported to the Americas and sold into slavery.
The issue dominated headlines during the last Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm), held in October 2024, when the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, resisted pressure from member states to include reparations in the summit’s agenda.
Gonsalves said: “In the light of what transpired last time at Chogm, and the progress which has been made since then, and the activist agenda for the reparations movement, both in the Caribbean and Africa … it would be absolutely inconceivable that you wouldn’t have this being front and centre of the summit.”
In March this year, the UK was one of several European countries that abstained from voting for a UN general assembly landmark resolution that described chattel slavery as the gravest crime against humanity. The resolution was passed after an overwhelming majority of 123 nations voted in its favour, with only the US, Israel and Argentina voting against it.
Before the Commonwealth meeting in Antigua and Barbuda in November, a series of milestone events will be held across the Caribbean, Africa and the UK, Gonsalves said.
Q&A
What did Ralph Gonsalves say about UK slavery reparations?
Ralph Gonsalves stated that reparatory justice for the transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans should be a central issue at the next Commonwealth leaders meeting.
What is the Repair Campaign and who founded it?
The Repair Campaign is a social movement advocating for reparatory justice, founded by Irish telecoms tycoon Denis O’Brien.
What role did Ralph Gonsalves play in the Caribbean reparations movement?
Ralph Gonsalves helped establish the Caribbean Community’s reparations commission to support calls for recognition of colonialism's legacy and reparative justice.
How many countries are in the Commonwealth and what is their significance?
The Commonwealth consists of 56 countries, including 33 Caribbean and African nations, which are significant in the context of addressing historical injustices like slavery.
Senate Democrats to fight Republicans’ $1bn funding plan for Trump’s ballroom
Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, are opposing a Republican plan to allocate $1 billion for security improvements at a ballroom Donald Trump wants to build. The funding is part of a larger $70 billion measure aimed at supporting Trump's immigration enforcement initiatives.
See every story in News — including breaking news and analysis.
Ghana, which led the March UN resolution, will host a reparations conference in June to agree coordinated next steps for the global movement.
He added that, in the run-up to a Caribbean leaders meeting in St Lucia in July, the prime ministerial reparations subcommittee, chaired by the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, is likely to meet to agree updates to Caricom’s 10-point plan for reparatory justice.
Gonsalves said that across the region there was a strong commitment to addressing the legacies of colonialism.
On Saturday, the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who also played a key role in setting up Caricom’s reparatory commission, announced that she would rename Nelson Island in honour of indentured immigrants from India, who were sent there by Britain between 1866 and 1917, in what she described as an “unjust and inhumane system” of human trafficking.
Gonsalves said Persad-Bissessar had done “very good work” during her first term.
“She was then chair of Caricom when I took the matter of reparatory justice to heads in 2013, 2014, and she supported it fully,” he said.
“I expect her to continue that support in her second term because it’s a matter on which she has spoken, not just with passion, but more importantly with commitment, and I don’t think that that commitment has waned.”
During his visit to Jamaica, Gonsalves met the country’s culture and gender minister, Olivia “Babsy” Grange, who is leading its reparation movement.
Last year Caricom backed Jamaica’s decision to petition King Charles – its head of state – to request legal advice on reparations from the judicial committee of the privy council, the final court of appeal for UK overseas territories and some Commonwealth nations.
Gonsalves said he hoped King Charles would support the Caribbean and Africa.
He said: “To quote the current head of the Commonwealth, King Charles, this issue, reparations, is one whose time has come for a serious conversation.
“Now, I don’t know what side of the conversation he would end up on. Knowing him, I am satisfied that he would come [down] on the side of the conversation which is in the interest of the bulk of the people in the Commonwealth, and which will be a progressive direction.”
