KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Repair Campaign, a movement for reparatory justice in the Caribbean, says a significant number of Caribbean people believe the United Kingdom and other former colonial countries should commit to long-term sustainable investments that help develop affected countries.
The Repair Campaign, whose goal is to amplify Caribbean voices calling for reparations and produce evidence-based Socioeconomic Reparatory Justice Plans, said its research has found that more than eight in 10 Caribbean people believe the former colonial countries should commit to long-term sustainable investments in the affected countries.
It is calling on Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries to seek apologies from former colonising countries, including the UK, France, and the Netherlands, and to acknowledge and apologise as crucial first steps towards achieving reparatory justice for the Caribbean.
The call coincided with the United Nations Day for the Abolition of Slavery, observed on Tuesday, as well as the launch of The Repair Campaign’s report on its impact since it was set up in 2022.
It said that over the past three years, The Repair Campaign has engaged with 280 civil society and government groups across the Caribbean and Europe, and has held more than 100 meetings with political leaders in 20 countries. It said that the campaign has reached more than five million people on social media.
The Repair Campaign said it has also conducted research into public attitudes towards reparations on both sides of the Atlantic, and among the key findings are that 83 per cent of Jamaicans and Barbadians surveyed agree that, given the history of resources being extracted from the Caribbean during colonialism, long-term sustainable investments should be made to help develop the Caribbean.
It said only 41 per cent of those surveyed reported having learned about the history of chattel slavery in primary school, while only 35 percent recalled learning about it in secondary school.
The survey found that 89 per cent of Caribbean respondents agreed that more education about this history is needed within Caribbean schools and that 85 per cent of people in the UK did not know that more than three million people were forcibly shipped from Africa to the Caribbean by Britain during the transatlantic slave trade.
The report also highlights the impact The Repair Campaign has had in bridging the education gap and encouraging governments to commit to reparatory justice.
It notes the recruitment of community organisers in St Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and St Lucia to build support for reparatory justice across local Caribbean communities, as well as the receipt of more than 20,000 signatures on the petition calling for reparatory justice and an official apology from the UK government.
“The legacy of transatlantic enslavement, colonialism, and Indigenous genocide continues to profoundly shape the social, economic, and political realities of the Caribbean today,” said Denis O’Brien, the founder of The Repair Campaign, on the launch of the report.
“Historical injustices persist through structural inequalities, economic vulnerabilities, and social disparities in areas such as health, education, and employment, as well as greatly reducing the region’s climate resilience. Addressing these challenges requires a conscious and collective commitment to reparatory justice as a fundamental pathway toward genuine healing and sustainable development.”
O’Brien said the Repair Campaign has laid the groundwork in the past couple of years for making real progress on reparatory justice.
“Now is the time to take this work and double down on our calls for an apology and reparations, not only as a matter of righting historical wrongs but as a critical step in ensuring social and economic equity across the Caribbean,” he added.
Campaign manager for The Repair Campaign, Brian Royes, said growing up and living in Jamaica, he sees daily the ongoing legacies of chattel slavery.
“So many of our family members struggle with diabetes and hypertension, while parents in the community struggle to make ends meet to provide for their families. And we are yet to truly repair the colonial legacies of racism and colourism, which continue to oppress and divide our people.
“Our work so far, alongside several excellent partners, has helped to cultivate the conversation in the Caribbean and in Europe and has laid the foundations for real and lasting change,” he added.
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