Commonwealth boss confident about slavery reparations

The secretary-general of the Commonwealth, a 56-nation group headed by Britain’s King Charles, said on Wednesday she expected member nations to make progress towards beginning negotiations on reparations for the transatlantic slave trade.

The Commonwealth, which grew out of the British Empire, is one of the world’s largest international organisations, representing around 2.7 billion people.

Its members include Australia, India, 21 African nations including South Africa and Caribbean states such as Barbados and Jamaica.

Charles has spoken of his profound regret over slavery and has backed research into the British monarchy’s historical links to the trade. However, Britain, like most former colonial powers, has dismissed calls for reparations.

In an interview, Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey, a former foreign minister of Ghana who has publicly backed reparations from Great Britain, said she was supporting member countries in seeking redress.

“My understanding is that there’s some movement in terms of having parties around the table to decide on the way forward, and the different forms of reparations, how to deal with it going forward will be discussed,” she told Reuters.

Discussions would be multi-lateral and would likely involve regional groups the Caribbean Community and the African Union, she added.

Calls for compensation grow

From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery by European merchants.

Britain was responsible for transporting an estimated 3.2 million people, making it the second most active European nation after Portugal, which enslaved nearly six million.

The African Union last year made reparations its theme of the year, and is working on developing a joint stance among member states.

The Caribbean Community has a 10-point reparation plan including a demand for debt forgiveness. That has been opposed by Britain, though Botchwey said she was open to other symbolic forms of redress.

“The UK is saying that probably we can’t pay financial reparations. Reparations do not have to be only financial,” Botchwey said.

“So once the parties sit, they will be able to come to mutual understanding.”

King a ‘great asset’

Charles has been under pressure over his younger brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s friendship with convicted U.S. sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Buckingham Palace said on Monday it was ready to support any police inquiry after new documents suggested Mountbatten-Windsor may have shared confidential British trade documents with Epstein.

He was cast out of the royal inner circle and stripped of many of his titles by the king over his close relationship with Epstein.

Charles, who became king in 2023 after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth, has been a “great asset” to the Commonwealth, Botchwey said.

“What is happening outside the Commonwealth, I may not be able to pronounce on it, but I am very grateful for the work that the King does to ensure the relevance of the Commonwealth and also to add value to the work that we do,” she said.

• Reporting by Alasdair Pal.