Trish Regan's Intel The country of Jamaica intends to sue the United Kingdom for a reported $10 billion in reparations compensation tied to the slave trade that the British once sanctioned.
“We are hoping for reparatory justice in all forms that one would expect if they are to really ensure that we get justice from injustices to repair the damages that our ancestors experienced,” said Olivia Grange, Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture, in an interview with Reuters over the weekend.
“Our African ancestors were forcibly removed from their home and suffered unparalleled atrocities in Africa to carry out forced labour to the benefit of the British Empire,” she continued. “Redress is well overdue.”
According to the National Library of Jamaica, an estimated 600,000 Africans were shipped to Jamaica to work as slaves. Jamaica was seized by the British from Spain in 1655, and remained a British colony until it became independent in 1962.
Britain prohibited trade in slaves in its empire in 1807 — but did not formally abolish the practice of slavery until 1834.
Although the Europeans and Americans engaged in the horrific act of slavery, it should be noted that the Africans sold their own people into slavery for profit and, as such, might also be subjected to reparations, should the lawsuit against the UK prove successful.
