Global push for reparations over slavery intensifies amid recognition of historical injustices

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking on the U.N. International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery on March 25, emphasized the imperative need for reparatory justice frameworks to address the enduring legacy of the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved people and systemic racism in today's society.

"We call for reparatory justice frameworks to help overcome generations of exclusion and discrimination," Guterres said.

The transatlantic slave trade, spanning from the 15th to the 19th century, left an indelible mark on humanity. At least 12.5 million Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic, enduring brutal voyages to be sold into bondage.

The ramifications of this barbaric practice reverberated across generations, devastating African cultures, economies, and institutions, with profound and lasting effects on the continent's development.

Advocates for reparations have long championed the cause, but recent years have seen a groundswell of support worldwide, particularly from African nations.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, at a reparations conference in Accra, passionately called for financial reparations to Africans and the diaspora, stressing the overdue recognition of the profound economic, cultural, and psychological impact of slavery.

"The entire period of slavery meant that our progress, economically, culturally, and psychologically, was stifled. You cannot quantify the effects of such tragedies, but they need to be recognized," President Akufo-Addo said.

Historical wounds resurfaced as Namibia's late President Hage Geingob in January 2024 accused the Germans of perpetrating the first genocide of the 20th century during colonial rule in Namibia.

“On Namibian soil, Germany committed the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions. The German Government is yet to fully atone for the genocide it committed on Namibian soil,” said the late Geingob in a statement released on social media following the European nation’s disapproval of South Africa’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case against Israel.

Geingob's poignant remarks underscored the ongoing struggle for acknowledgement and redress for past atrocities, highlighting the necessity of confronting historical injustices.

In November 2023, German President Frank Walter Steinmeier while on a visit to its former colony Tanzania expressed remorse for atrocious acts committed by the Germans which resulted in the death of an estimated 300,000 Tanzanian natives between 1905 and 1907, roughly one-third of the indigenous population at the time.

Meanwhile, in a move to address its historical ties to the slave trade, the Church of England's 100-million-pound fund faced criticism from an oversight group led by descendants of enslaved Africans. The group deemed the fund insufficient, advocating for a tenfold increase to adequately address the church's historical complicity in the exploitation of enslaved people.

A U.N. report from September 2023 suggested that nations think about making financial amends for slavery.

Although the concept of compensation for slavery has a long history, the movement has gained support all around the world.

By 1800, the slave trade cut Africa's population in half compared to what it would have been, a 2017 research released by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) reported.