(ProsperNews.net) – Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley is demanding a staggering $4.9 trillion in reparations for slavery from former slave-trading colonial powers, reported The Independent, a British newspaper.
Speaking at the London School of Economics, Mottley emphasized the need for reparations for historical injustices, stressing the importance of recognition and attention to their claims, mentioning that the damages over centuries will take time to resolve.
Acknowledging the Brattle Group’s figures, she stated that Britain owes $24 trillion to 14 different countries over the transatlantic slave trade, while France owes $9.2 trillion, the Netherlands owes $4.86 trillion, and Spain owes $17.1 trillion.
Mottley, as reported by the left-leaning Guardian newspaper, expressed that they do not anticipate receiving reparations swiftly, acknowledging that the wealth extraction and damages occurred across centuries. However, she emphasized the demand for acknowledgement and attention to their plea.
The estimated yearly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Barbados stands around $6.2 billion. This demand for reparations amounts to about 790 times the island’s entire annual economic output.
Mottley emphasized the relatively small nature of the figures when seen in the context of the wealth accumulated over time, emphasizing the importance of redressing historical wrongs to move forward collectively.
The calls for reparations come amid a larger reparations movement by African and Caribbean nations seeking compensation from countries that profited from slavery and colonialism. The movement aims to address the lack of compensation for Europeans’ exploitation of Africans and the ongoing repercussions for their descendants.
Scholars assert that the transatlantic chattel slave trade involuntarily displaced at least 12 million Africans from their home countries and transferred them to European colonies spanning the 16th through the 19th centuries.
Barbados has a significant historical association with British colonization, as English settlers began their occupation of the island in 1627 under British rule, establishing a sugar plantation economy. Although the United Kingdom abolished slavery in 1834, Barbados remained a colony until gaining independence in 1966.
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