Is 2025 the Year of Reparation for Descendants of African Slaves in the Caribbean? 

Dear Editor,
Six descendants of the Scottish 19th century sugar and coffee plantation owner John Gladstone visited Guyana in August 2023 to offer apology for their foreparent’s active involvement in slavery and the Atlantic slave trade. On their visit to Guyana, the Gladstone family donated £100,000 to the University of Guyana (UG) and the Guyana Reparations Committee (GRC) to promote research into slavery, including migration and diaspora studies. And an institute called
International Center for Migration and Diaspora Studies (ICMDS) was created for this purpose.
A strong statement on reparations was delivered by Guyana’s President Dr Irfaan Ali (August 2023). He called upon descendants of European slave traders “to offer to pay reparations to right historical wrongs…and demanded that those involved in the transatlantic trade and African enslavement be posthumously charged for crimes against humanity.”
And Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, at the UN General Assembly, argued the case for a second International Decade for People of African Descent (IDPAD) “to address reparation and colonialism.”
Elsewhere Ms Mottley expressed gratitude to the Church of England for allocating £100 million towards reparation, but seemed uneasy with this amount as well as with the absence of conversation. It is noted that the UN did approve a Second Decade (2025-2034) which was strongly supported by Guyana.
Despite the optimism generated by the Gladstone family’s apology and their research grant, combined with prior and current impassioned speeches of several political leaders and scholars, including Professor Hillary Beckles who appeared before the British Parliament in July 2024, there has not been any significant movement in the reparation journey. European countries are still struggling with how they could face the colossal financial challenge, among other things.
For example, former British Prime Minister Mr David WD Cameron, who visited Jamaica in September 2015, ruled out reparation, but expressed readiness to grant funds for development and security purposes. And this British position on reparation has been supported by a succeeding British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak (2024).
Prof Hillary Beckles ignited the momentum for reparation in April 2024 when he emphasized that the colonial powers that extracted massive amount of wealth from slavery must be prepared to transfer a portion of that wealth to those countries to satisfy their critical development needs. Prof Beckles also expressed gratitude to the African Union, which has promised to collaborate with Caricom, and which designated 2025 as the year of reparation.
Another powerful voice has joined the crusade. King Charles has stated: “We must acknowledge the enduring impact of slavery…This is a conversation whose time has come.”
Citing figures from the Brattle Group Report (BGR), Table 16 (June 8, 2023) on Trans-Atlantic Chattel Slavery, Ms. Mottley has said Barbados is due (US)$4.9 trillion in reparation, and an additional (US)$51 billion for the post-enslavement period (Table 22).
In the case of Guyana, the estimated reparation for chattel slavery is (US)$628 billion and post-enslavement reparation is (US)$42 billion, making it a total of (US)$670 billion. Of this amount, the Netherlands’ share of payment is (US)$60 billion, while the UK share is (US)$610 billion. These figures are based on 2020 currency value, and are calculated at 2.5% interest.
The BGR says reparation could be disbursed over a 10-, 15-, 20- or 25-year period.
What format would European apology and reparations take? Would it be community grants to African villages to launch community development projects? Or would that take the form of direct cash payments to descendants? If cash is disbursed, how would that be done? Would it be individual descendants or descendant families/ households (2nd, 3rd, 4th generation)? In the case of Guyana, there were 13,631 African immigrants post- slavery during 1841-1865.
African immigrants at that time accounted for about 12.8% of the African population. How would the African immigrants and their descendants be treated? I didn’t find an answer in the Brattle Report.
The figures on reparation as determined by the Brattle Group should be settled at negotiations between the European powers and the Caricom Reparations Committee. I strongly support reparation to descendants of African slaves.

Sincerely,
Dr Tara Singh