Cameron rejects reparations for Britain's past in the Caribbean slave trade

[unhappycamper]

http://www.dw.com/en/cameron-rejects-reparations-for-britains-past-in-the-caribbean-slave-trade/a-18752305

British Prime Minister David Cameron said his administration would not make reparations for the country's role in the Caribbean slave trade. Instead he pledged over half a billion dollars in aid.

Cameron rejects reparations for Britain's past in the Caribbean slave trade
01.10.2015

British Prime Minister David Cameron made the controversial remarks during his visit to Jamaica - the first for a British prime minister in 14 years. The BBC reported that Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller had said she had broached the issue of reparations with Cameron.

"I do hope that, as friends who have gone through so much together since those darkest of times, we can move on from this painful legacy and continue to build for the future," Cameron told Jamaica's parliament. He added he wanted to focus on the future, not historical wrongs, and Britain's longstanding position was "that we do not believe reparations is the right approach."

Cameron promised a roughly $455 million (407 million euros) aid package to upgrade bridges, ports and other infrastructure across the Caribbean and reinvigorate Britain's relationship with the region dotted with its dependencies and former colonies. He also pledged an additional $180 million (161 million euros) to improve health facilities and boost economic growth. He said that this support would make Britain the largest bilateral donor to the region.

The push for reparations

Caribbean leaders in 2014 approved a 10-point plan to seek reparations from the former slave-owning states of Europe. The Caribbean countries said European governments in addition to being responsible for conducting slavery and genocide, also imposed 100 years of racial apartheid and suffering on freed slaves and the survivors of genocide.