A Jamaican delegation is visiting Britain to seek reparations for slavery. They will submit a petition to King Charles III seeking legal guidance. Their visit, which began Monday, marks the first time a British Commonwealth country has pursued this legal route toward reparative justice, according to Al Jazeera.
Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Olivia Grange, is leading the delegation. The step is being taken to secure reparations for African ancestors who were enslaved for hundreds of years. During the visit, the delegation will also discuss with the British Museum the return of cultural artifacts looted from Jamaica.
The petition will ask King Charles, as Jamaica’s head of state, to have the Caribbean island’s highest court of appeal answer three questions related to the transatlantic slave trade: whether enslaving Africans was lawful under English common law, whether it violated international law, and whether Britain has any legal obligation to provide redress for the harm caused by slavery.
Buckingham Palace, meanwhile, has said that while the king holds a constitutional role as Jamaica’s head of state, he has no authority to decide on the substance of the claim. From the 17th century to the early 19th century, British merchants forcibly transported 600,000 to 1 million Africans to Jamaica and held them as slaves. After slavery was abolished in 1833, Britain instead compensated slave owners. According to the Jamaican government’s calculations, it is owed roughly $10 billion. Britain, however, has repeatedly refused to pay this historical reparation.