French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that Haiti was subjected to a historic injustice when it had to pay France a huge amount of money in return for its freedom 200 years ago.
Macron said that a joint French Haitian historical commission will be established to “examine our shared past” and evaluate ties, but he made no mention of the long-standing Haitian demands for reparations.
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“This decision placed a price on the freedom of a young nation, which was thus confronted with the unjust force of history from its very inception,” Macron said in a statement after France sentenced the people of Haiti to a huge financial indemnity.
On this day, 200 years ago, King Charles X of France signed a declaration on April 17, 1825, acknowledging Haiti’s independence following a slave uprising. However, in exchange for the loss of France’s colony and enslaved labor force, he also imposed a debt of 150 million gold francs.
The debt hampered the Caribbean country, which paid it off through French and American banks until 1947, even though the indemnity was eventually lowered to 90 million gold francs. According to economists, it is currently worth billions of dollars.
According to experts, Haiti’s current predicament has roots in its history. In the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation, gangs have thrived, and as families struggle to make ends meet, more and more children are joining.
Since last year, gangs that control 85% of the city, Port-au-Prince, have increased their violence, invading new settlements every day to seize even more territory. Gang violence has left over a million homeless people in recent years, and over 5,600 individuals were reported dead last year.
According to Macron, ″acknowledging the truth of history means refusing to forget or erase it.″
Aiming to offer suggestions to both governments “so that they can learn from them and build a more peaceful future,” the new panel will include historians from both nations.
Macron has previously addressed France’s involvement in previous colonial battles, such as those in Rwanda, Algeria, and Cameroon, since taking office in 2017.
Like other former colonial powers, the French government has rejected requests for reparations while acknowledging the historical injustice of slavery in Haiti and other former colonies.
