A coalition of civil society organizations believes that France should reimburse billions of euros to Haiti for the debt that people who were once in slavery were made to pay in exchange for the island’s recognition of independence.
Following a slave uprising, the Caribbean island became the first in the area to achieve freedom in 1804. However, France then enforced heavy reparations for lost income, a decision that many Haitians attribute to the country’s two decades of strife. This debt was finally entirely repaid in 1947.
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A fresh impartial commission to supervise the repayment of the debt—which they call a ransom—is being sought after by the coalition of about twenty non-governmental groups presently in Geneva for the U.N. Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD).
They argue that the funds need to be used for public works projects in Haiti, where armed groups have been waging deadly warfare for a while. This month, a transition committee was appointed to restore security.
“What’s important is that it’s time that France recognizes this and we move forward,” Reporters were informed by Haitian civil society activist Monique Clesca about the actions being coordinated.
A request for comment from the French Foreign Ministry was not immediately answered. There’s a “moral debt” that France owes Haiti; its development agency has sent hundreds of millions of dollars there.
Historians differ on how much was paid to France, but the New York Times calculated that Haiti lost $21 billion. Supporters of the initiative claim the sum is far more.
“It’s $21 billion plus 200 years of interest that France has enjoyed so we’re talking more like $150 billion, $200 billion or more,” according to Jemima Pierre, a lecturer at the University of British Columbia who studies global race.
The U.N. forum’s conclusions are due on April 19, 2024, and Clesca expressed her optimism that the suggestion and others will be included. The PFPAD recommended last year that a tribunal be established to deal with slavery reparations.
Reparations and other forms of atonement for slavery have long been campaigns, and they are becoming more and more popular all over the world.
