Jamaica is intensifying its campaign for £7.6 billion in reparations for slavery, with a government delegation visiting London to lobby King Charles III and engage with British officials. The delegation has brought a petition for Buckingham Palace, aiming to initiate steps towards a significant financial payout from the UK.
The core of Jamaica's argument focuses on the historical compensation paid by Britain to slave owners after the abolition of slavery in 1833, rather than to the enslaved people themselves. This compensation, amounting to £20 million at the time, represented a substantial portion of the Treasury's annual income and necessitated a large loan that was not fully repaid until 2015.
Olivia Grange, Jamaica's minister of culture, stated upon arrival in the UK, "Up to 2015, Britain was paying the slave masters because we were considered property." She questioned the ongoing financial burden, asking, "if in modern times we're still paying back the slave masters for the 'property' that was our ancestors, because of the abolition of slavery, why shouldn't we be pursuing some remedy at this time?"
The petition presented to King Charles, as Jamaica's head of state, will ask him to refer three questions to the Privy Council: whether the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica was legal under English law, whether it violated international law, and whether Britain now holds a legal obligation to provide redress.
British governments have consistently maintained a policy of not paying slavery reparations. A royal source indicated that the King does not have personal discretion in referring matters to the Privy Council. However, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson commented that "His Majesty has on many occasions expressed his commitment to finding ways to address historic wrongs for the benefit of communities today."
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, over 12 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic, with many sent to British sugar plantations in Jamaica. The Jamaican delegation also plans to meet with British Museum executives to request the return of three Taino carvings, which were discovered in a cave in 1792 and subsequently taken to the UK. These carvings are significant as they were created by the island's indigenous Taino population, who were largely decimated by European arrival and disease.