Dr. Amery Browne, Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs, has demanded that the term “imperial arrogance” be eliminated from the discourse around repatriations.
During a recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Apia, Samoa, Browne made the remark to Commonwealth leaders.
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UK High Commissioner Vishnu Dhanpaul and Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley joined him.
According to a Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs media release, Browne addressed remarks made by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who had stated that CHOGM should not discuss reparations or a formal apology.
Browne stated, “There should be no place for anything resembling imperial arrogance at the Commonwealth Affairs of the Commonwealth.”
The delegates were reminded that this “is our Commonwealth” by him.
Browne’s speech also addressed the continued harm caused by colonialism, chattel slavery, and genocide against Indigenous peoples, as well as the function of regional and international organizations in achieving recognition, restitution, and true justice.
Repatriation has become more and more popular in recent years.
In 2022, Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, called slavery “abhorrent” but refrained from offering an apology on a trip to eight Caribbean nations.
After that visit, Rowley declared it was time for the UK to make financial amends.
Speaking at a PNM ceremony honoring Spiritual Baptist Shouter Liberation Day in March the year 2022, Rowley stated, “Tonight, I want to say to Prince William, having said that, I believe you. But I believe you more if you do what you must now do, which is the offer of reparation to the people who were wronged.”
The National Committee on Reparations was established by the Cabinet last year to seek compensation from all European colonizers for African enslavement and Native genocide.
A formal apology, debt cancellation, and the removal of public monuments and signs honoring people who, according to the committee, profit from colonial atrocities are all part of the group’s retaliation plan.
