In July 2025 the decades-old campaign of reparatory justice by Caribbean countries put the focus onto Europe when a large delegation initiated a new effort in Westminster at the same time as it opened one in Brussels. Their target: introducing the question of reparations over slavery and colonialism to the political agenda of former colonial powers itself. With this campaign, there is a shift in the narrative of the historical grievances by the Caribbean states and their diasporas, which is no longer a historical issue, but an ongoing practice in injustices that needs a political and legal reckoning.
CARICOM has come up with a Ten Point Plan of Reparatory Justice and under the symbolic gestures are not requested by the delegation organized under the Repair Campaign. Rather, it requires material involvement, starting with apologies as well as economic reparations and institutional change. Moral and political stakes are high, not merely of the Caribbean region but of world-views of justice and post-colonial duty.
The Historical Roots of Caribbean Reparations
Slavery, Colonization, and Systemic Underdevelopment
More than 12.5 million Africans were forcefully taken to America in a transatlantic slave ship and it was in the Caribbean where European colonial economies based on sugar, coffee and slave trade were built. History of slavery involved generations of oppressed slaves facing so much brutality and deprivation they were never given the right to their land and their labor was exploited economically with profits leading to the ascension of European imperial states such as Britain.
Although slavery had been abolished, structural conditions of colonial rule persisted and further exploited the Caribbean economically with the denial of political agency. The cumulative impacts, in the form of continuing poverty, racial discrimination and underdeveloped infrastructure, are what the contemporary reparations movement attempts to address.
The recent campaign has repackaged reparations as the multi-faceted means of repairing structural damage, as opposed to the pure monetary compensation, necessitating cancellation of debts, investment in education and health, and revision of policies by former colonial powers.
A Strategic Shift Toward Engagement in Europe
Coordinated Visits to Brussels and Westminster
2025 campaign represents a radical change in the approach of reparations move. Although, in the past, much of the advocacy in the region was usually aimed at raising awareness, the present delegation directly addresses policymakers in the European Union and the British House of Commons. The visits to the Members of the European Parliament and a special parliamentary briefing in Westminster are an orchestrated effort to pester previously benefiting institutions of this exploitation of the Caribbean.
One more conspicuous Irish businessman with a long history of helping Caribbean to develop, Denis O Brien, also joined the delegation to represent a symbolic bridge between European elites and the interests of the Caribbean. The fact that he is there highlights the growing insurgency of voices in favor of reparatory justice even of the Global North.
The activities of the group have also been in line with the increased political consciousness in Europe regarding the empire legacies. Compensating the colonial-era artifacts, treating the Windrush-generation citizens of Britain, and influencing the development in Africa related to Europe and its roles have attracted the center of discussions that revealed the opportunity to continue the conversation on a more substantial level about slavery and its contemporary implications.
Legal Maneuvers and the Role of the Monarchy
Jamaica’s Petition to the Privy Council
There is also a related legal process as in June 2025 Jamaica filed a petition to King Charles III, asking the Privy Council to decide formally whether slavery was a crime against humanity, and whether or not it was a legal duty on the government of Britain to provide redress. This act exploits constitutional provisions which remain in effect in other Commonwealth countries, giving legal and symbolic authority to the discussion of reparations.
Another underlying issue addressed in the petition is the question of accountability of the monarchies as well as institutions of birth. King Charles, whose coronation in April 2023 was met by protests of reparations in the Caribbean and the UK has not directly commented on Jamaica request itself. His silence, in the face of increasing political and legal pressure risks playing into the hands of being perceived as an institution in evasion.
Such a plan of action, involving political lobbying on the one hand and lawsuits on the other can be viewed as a multi-pronged approach that uses not only the pen but also the moral responsibility and justice. It also illuminates the fact that the Caribbean tries to leverage available international organizations to achieve its objectives- in spite of structural disparities of power, and historical injustices.
Political Tensions and the Question of Responsibility
British and European Resistance
Although there is increasing impetus, opposition toward the reparations agenda is still high especially among right-wing politics in Britain and Europe. The critics approach it by saying that no government in existence today can afford to pay or be held responsible to provide monetary reparations to the descendants of the people who were dehumanized a hundred years ago.
One of these objections neglects the trans-generational character of wealth accumulation and institutional continuity. Rivals of this opposition cite the fact that the British government did not compensate the slaves themselves, but the slave owners when they abolished them, a system that lasted until 2015. The legacies of slavery and colonialism evident by the fact that British taxpayers continued to pay this debt into the 21st century can be noted.
The newly elected 2024 Labour government had cautiously supported non-financial kinds of reparations. David Lammy, Foreign Secretary, is just an example of acknowledging the history of Britain in slavery and its willingness to discuss reparatory justice. However he has not gone far as pledging structural redress in his comments as it follows that such a matter is sensitive in the political arena.
A Broader Reckoning with Colonial History
Reparations as Global Justice
The campaign of the Caribbean is not taking place in vacuum. It serves the same purposes with continental campaigns of African countries, Indigenous peoples, as well as civil society movements to demand redress of colonialism and racism. The African Union created a reparations commission aimed at European colonialism and the slave trade across the Atlantic in 2025. Meanwhile, there is an ongoing push in the United States to force the government to issue reparations against slavery and racial prejudice.
All these attempts indicate an international trend of histories of violence recognition and response. Their presence as well makes a mockery of the self-portrait of the West as a place of human rights and the rule of law, showing inconsistency in the way justice is approached on both sides of the divide and between time and generations.
According to the proponents of reparations, the failure by the rich countries to admit their colonial wrongs and make reparations weakens the validity of their foreign policies and human rights missions. In this respect, the focus on reparations is not only a matter of compensation of money-it is that of moral leadership and international norms credibility.
Voices from the Movement
This person has spoken on the topic in an interview with GB News, emphasizing the moral imperative of reparations and the need for sustained political will to achieve meaningful outcomes.
The UK government are considering paying £18 trillion in slavery reparations to the Caribbean.
— Connor Tomlinson (@Con_Tomlinson) February 8, 2025
Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley is demanding £3.9 trillion.
She cares so much about slavery that, after leaving the Commonwealth in 2022, she joined China's Belt and Road scheme.… pic.twitter.com/jaiCHygbmJ
His remarks capture the broader sentiment that reparations are not a fringe demand but a legitimate and necessary component of global justice. He called on British lawmakers to “recognize their responsibility not as a burden, but as an opportunity to lead the world in reconciling with history.”
The Moral and Political Dilemma Ahead
The debate over reparations reveals the bitter antagonisms between moral responsibility in the past and practical expediency. In the case of former colonial powers, the realization of the necessity of some form of reparation makes them reckon with their national histories of narratives and their economics of exploitation. In the case of the Caribbean, reparation does not only signal justice but survival as a possibility to redress centuries of marginalization by implementing real policies and redistributing resources.
These visits to Westminster and Brussels are not likely to have an immediate impact, but they add urgency and legitimacy to a dialogue that has been stagnant for a long time. They also challenge the disposition of the democratic institutions to challenge the contradictions embedded in them. The next turn in the global movement will depend on how political leaders react with either the backbone or evasion.
With the world feeling the impact of increasing authoritarianism, growing inequality and the unfinished business of empire, the call to reparations raises questions not only about what we remember or how we choose to commemorate the past, but how we decide to construct a future.