Choose visas or reparations, Reform UK threatens victims of slavery

THATO MASHABA

WINDHOEK, (CAJ News) – DESPITE all 27 European Union (EU) member states, particularly the United Kingdom (UK), being among the biggest beneficiaries of slavery, efforts are being made to push back against reparations and colonial accountability.

The United Nations (UN) resolution of 25 March called on countries, individually and collectively, to engage in fair, inclusive, good-faith dialogue on reparatory justice, including formal apologies, financial compensation and restitution.

Africa’s reparations agenda took centre stage under the African Union’s (AU) 2025 theme, Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.

By mid-2025, the AU had declared 2026 to 2035 the Decade of Reparations, charging Ghana’s President John Mahama with championing the cause.

The AU summit decision in February called for an African-based global reparations fund to support programmes for indigenous peoples’ development, education systems, restitution, cultural institutions and activities that address systemic racism.