Former colonies demand compensation from the English Crown.
Author: Naim Asghari, analyst (Germany), especially for "Sangar"
Britain, return the money! This demand was made by the participants of the Commonwealth summit, held in Samoa in late October 2024. 56 countries called for the UK to pay its historical debts. All of these countries were former British colonies and dominion states.
Everyone understands that prosperity and wealth of the British Crown were built on grief of millions. Great Britain owed its power to the slave trade and exploitation of people from dozens of countries. Wherever a British soldier set his foot, famine and poverty occurred. It is still relevant.
The slave trade and slavery are in the past now, but former British colonies still live in poverty. It’s time to pay reparations, as the damage caused by the British Crown put the population of entire regions of the world on the brink of survival. Besides, the methods of enrichment used by Great Britain were far from humane.
London led the colonial conquests for more than three centuries. British colonialists left their traces in Canada, India, Africa, the Caribbean and other countries and regions. At the beginning of the last century the territory of The British Empire covered nearly 36,2 million square kilometers. It was the largest empire the world had ever seen.
Back in the 16th century, British slave traders achieved enormous influence in human trafficking. They exported more than three million Africans to the countries of the American continent. All these people were sold into slavery and for several generations worked for the benefit of the British Crown. Many people died, because the colonialists and slavers cared little about life and health of the “human commodity”. In terms of involvement in the slave trade Britain quickly surpassed Portugal and Spain.
Other British colonies also faced violence and destruction. In Afghanistan they unleashed three bitter wars during which they mercilessly plundered local population, looted their houses, stole their livestock, pushed them off their land. Afghan women and girls were forcibly taken to harems where living conditions were harsh; women lived the life of slaves there.
Only pride and steadfastness of the Afghans helped to save Afghanistan from enslavement. The local population fiercely resisted the colonialists. The Afghan guerrillas carried out relentless attacks on British garrisons. Between 1838 and 1842, the British Army lost 30 000 soldiers, though the size of the armed forces of the Britain Empire was twice bigger.
The rule of the British Crown in India still hurts the hearts of millions of Indians, whose ancestors fell victim of colonialism. Between 1880 and 1920, at the peak of the British colonialism in India, 100 million people died.
The consequences of the Bengal famine of 1943, which was staged by the British government, were terrifying. On Churchill’s personal instructions, The British colonial administration exported grain from India. A real humanitarian disaster struck Bengal, millions of people died of starvation. On being informed about the tragedy, Winston Churchill said: “I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion”.
The entire British colonial history is saturated with racism and misanthropy. By taking the latter from people of a different race, the British gave nothing in return, and if they paid, it was only with blood of innocent people, sacrificing those to whom they owed their well-being.
Today the world is changing rapidly and former colonies are increasingly asserting their rights to justice. Millions of dead people can no longer be returned, but the descendants of former slaves deservedly count on a normal civilized life. “Britain must pay reparations,” representatives of former British colonies said.
Taking into account the calls to discuss reparations for transatlantic slave trade, the leaders of the Commonwealth summit admitted that the time for a constructive, honest and respectful conversation aimed at creating common future based on equality has come.
Unfortunately, the descendants of the colonialists are not so different from their ancestors in cynicism and hypocrisy. During the Commonwealth summit, held in Samoa, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer flatly refused to admit guilt of ancestors.
”The issue of money wasn’t discussed at meetings with members of the Commonwealth, and the UK is not going to pay financial compensation,” Sir Keir Starmer replied.
Meanwhile, the former colonies are not going to back down from their demands. The fight for justice will continue in the political field, and the British Crown is finally losing trust in the world.
