WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – King Charles III on Friday heard calls from some of Britain’s former colonies for reckoning over Britain’s transatlantic role at a summit of Commonwealth nations in Samoa. He indirectly admitted that he could not change the past. slave trade.
The British monarch told Apian leaders that he understood that “the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate today”. But Charles made no mention of financial reparations, which some of the leaders at the event had called for, instead “to guide us to make the right choices in a future where inequality exists.” He encouraged them to find the “right words” and understanding of history.
“None of us can change the past, but we can wholeheartedly commit to learning its lessons and finding creative ways to correct the inequalities that persist.” said Charles, who will be attending the conference (CHOGM). As the British Head of State.
His remarks at the summit’s opening ceremony acknowledged the strength of sentiment on the issue in former British colonies.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also struck a softening tone after previously insisting the meeting should avoid a muddying up of the past and a “very long, never-ending debate over reparations.”
Mr Starmer told the summit that it was important to acknowledge that we share a “harsh” history, adding: “The strength of feeling here and the calls to confront past harms and injustices through compensatory justice… He said he understands that there is.
Starmer, flanked by the leaders of Uganda and Tanzania, said: “We want to work together to ensure that the future is not in the shadow of the past.” Next year, Mr Starmer will meet leaders of the countries most affected by the UK He promised to host a Caribbean forum. The legacy of slavery.
Britain’s response to its involvement in the transatlantic slave trade is seen by many observers as a litmus test for the Commonwealth’s adaptation to the modern world. Other European countries and some UK institutions are beginning to recognize their role in trade.
“I think it’s time to take this seriously,” said Jacqueline McKenzie, a partner at London law firm Leigh Day. “Nobody expects people to pay a dime for what happened. But I think there needs to be a negotiation.”
Mr McKenzie said such a policy would be costly and divisive at home.
Britain has never formally apologized for its role in the trade, which over the centuries has seen millions of African nationals kidnapped and deported to plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas, enriching countless individuals and businesses. do not have. Studies suggest Britain will have to pay hundreds of millions to trillions of dollars in reparations to descendants of slaves.
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis said on Thursday he wanted to discuss the issue “candidly” with Mr Starmer and called for mention of reparations in the summit’s final statement. All three candidates for the next Commonwealth Secretary-General – Gambia, Ghana and Lesotho – support a policy of reparative justice for slavery.
In remarks to reporters on Thursday, Starmer said the issue would not be on the summit’s agenda. But Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland told The Associated Press in an interview that leaders will “absolutely say what they want to say” during a daylong closed-door meeting scheduled for Saturday.
King Charles said in a speech on Friday that nothing would redress inequality “more decisively than defending the principle that our Union is one of real opportunity for all.” The monarch urged leaders to “choose the language of community and respect within the Commonwealth family and reject the language of division”.
He previously expressed his “sadness” over slavery at the 2022 CHOGM summit and last year backed an investigation into the royal family’s links to industry.
Prince Charles and his wife Queen Camilla, who is battling cancer, are due to return to the UK after visiting Samoa and Australia, but his presence has sparked protests from MPs over the country’s colonial legacy. Ta.
He acknowledged Friday that the Commonwealth was “very” important to his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Elizabeth II was seen as the unifier of the group’s disparate and diverse states.
The dispute over reparations threatened to overshadow a summit where Pacific leaders and the Commonwealth Secretariat had hoped to focus squarely on the devastating effects of climate change.
“It is long past time to think that this is a problem for the future, because it has already undermined the development that we have fought for for many years,” the king said on Friday. “This year alone, we have seen horrific storms in the Caribbean, devastating flooding in East Africa and devastating wildfires in Canada, putting lives, livelihoods and human rights at risk across the Commonwealth. ”
Prime Minister Charles said he gave “every encouragement to act with clear determination to halt temperature rise” through cutting emissions, building resilience and protecting and restoring nature on land and at sea.
Samoa is the first Pacific Island nation to host the event, and Prime Minister Fiami Naomi Mata’afa said in a speech on Friday that it was a “great opportunity to experience our lived reality, especially with climate change.” said. It is the greatest threat to the survival and security of people in the Pacific. ”
The Commonwealth Group’s 56 member states include 20 small island states, some of which are among the most at risk from sea level rise in the world. Her comments came as the United Nations released a scathing new report warning that the world is warming much faster than expected unless immediate action is taken to tackle climate change.
The 75-year-old Commonwealth organization has a total population of 2.7 billion people.
