CARICOM Chair: Reparations talks a high priority

CARICOM leaders have agreed that a face-to-face conversation on reparations with all stakeholders is essential. This was stated by CARICOM Chair and Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, during the closing media conference for the 48th Regular Meeting of the Conference last Friday in Barbados.
A statement from the Caribbean body said that the Chair continued to highlight the leaders’ advocacy for reparatory justice and underscored that the issue is a high priority for the organisation.
“The Heads agreed that the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee (PMSC) on Reparations will meet, but that, without prejudice to this, we are settled on the need for an apology and the need for compensation, which remains absolutely important to us,” the statement said.
The CARICOM Chair added that convening the PMSC on Reparations is a priority and that the members would be responsible for refining the region’s negotiating mandate for reparations.
Additionally, it was stated that, “while there have been instances of people offering a public apology or even a quantum, as in the case of the Church of England, there has been no face-to-face discussion, which we deem absolutely important. Because if you can’t see me or hear me, it is not appropriate to make a judgment as to who or what I am and what I should receive.”
During his remarks at the media conference, Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Philip Davis, stated that CARICOM is also exploring legal avenues where engagements could occur to ensure perhaps, “a judicial response or answer if the negotiations fail.”
Prime Minister Davis pointed out that reparations is not a new concept, referencing reparations for wrongdoings offered in similar situations.
“With regard to the Jews and the Holocaust, the Germans negotiated the 50 billion-dollar reparations. Jews are still, today, I think, receiving cheques for the harm done to that community during that period. The South Korean Comfort Women were compensated by Japan to the tune of one billion dollars, which goes to them, their families, and provides cultural and other assistance. And the United States themselves… I think it was in 1988, passed a reparation act to compensate US citizens of Japanese descent who were detained during World War II. This is information that we must put forward to ensure that people don’t think that this is some new aberration by the descendants of Africa,” Prime Minister Davis stated.
The PMSC on Reparations was established under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister of Barbados and comprises the Chair of the Conference and the Heads of Government of Guyana, Haiti, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname, to oversee the work of the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC).