Caribbean Leaders Demand Slavery Reparations in 52-Page Manifesto After 123 Nations Backed UN Resolution
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 18
Caribbean Leaders Demand Slavery Reparations in 52-Page Manifesto After 123 Nations Backed UN Resolution
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 18
Summary
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley unveiled a 52-page Caribbean reparations manifesto in Ghana, sharpening Caricom’s demand for monetary compensation, formal apologies and other remedies from Britain and other European former colonial powers.
The updated plan argues slavery and the trafficking of enslaved Africans were crimes against humanity with no statute of limitations, building on a UN resolution passed in March with 123 votes in favor.
New provisions widen the claim beyond earlier Caricom proposals, linking climate justice to reparations and adding support for Indigenous peoples targeted in Caribbean genocides.
Gender-based violence is now a specific compensation claim: the document says women were about 30% of 20 million Africans transported across the Atlantic, and at least 1.2 million enslaved women suffered sexual violence.
Caricom has pressed for reparatory justice since 2013, but the manifesto still needs formal approval from Caribbean governments and does not set a compensation figure.
A UN resolution calls slavery a crime against humanity. Can this moral victory force colonial powers to finally pay for their past?
Beyond cash, could slavery reparations reset the global power imbalance and deliver climate justice?
The US has paid reparations for other injustices. Why does it now oppose paying for slavery on a global scale?
2026: Caribbean Leaders and UN Unite for Reparations, Declaring Slave Trade Humanity’s Gravest Crime
Overview
In June 2026, Caribbean leaders, led by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, intensified their push for reparations by unveiling a new manifesto at a major conference. This manifesto is now being reviewed and endorsed by individual Caribbean governments, highlighting a unified regional approach. Once approved, it will be presented internationally, marking a significant step in the global reparations movement. This effort follows the UN General Assembly’s landmark March 2026 resolution, which declared the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity and explicitly called for reparations to address its lasting impacts.