Jamaica Asks British Queen To Pay Billions As Compensation For Slavery

Jamaican authorities have demanded that Queen Elizabeth should pay reparations as compensation for all its citizens who were subjected to slavery in Britain.

Although, the Jamaican Government has petitioned the Queen for billions of pounds as compensation, there are arguments that British taxpayers have already paid reparations to free slaves.

The Caribbean country which gained independence from the UK in 1962, after being traded in slavery and becoming a British Colony in 1707, has expressed its grievances in the face of this contention.

Jamaica’s Culture Minister, Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange has thereby, announced the move to its House of Representatives to seek compensation for its enslavement.

She said: “We are especially pleased to announce that we have made further steps in our strides towards seeking reparatory justice for the victims and descendants of the transatlantic slave trade.

“The petition is to be presented to the Queen of the UK and or the government of the UK.

“The Attorney General’s chambers would need to weigh up the merits of the petition in the eventuality of the government of Jamaica’s involvement in the petition and that it would be the responsibility of the Attorney General’s chambers to file the petition on behalf of the people of Jamaica.”

According to records, while visiting the former Colony in 2015, David Cameron ensured that the taxpayers paid off the compensation fee to Jamaica, for enslaving.

Speaking on this, historian and founder of the British Monarchists Society, Thomas Mace-Archer-Mills stated:

“Britain has already paid its share and then some – the price of freedom for Jamaica’s slaves.

“There needs to come a day where individuals, peoples, and the nations of today need to take accountability for themselves, their own actions, and situations, and stop blaming centuries-old dead people and less savoury histories of the past.

“Britain through the slave acts of the 1800s actually went into debt buying the freedom of slaves throughout the empire.

“At the time, the British government paid 20 million pounds, the equivalent of around 17 billion pounds today – to compensate slave owners for the lost capital associated with freeing slaves.

“This pay-out was a massive 40% of the government’s budget and required many bonds to slave owners to effectuate the law,” he added.

Source: Linda Ikeji

Featured Image Source: Reuters