UK Reparations Conference 2023 Statement

The following statement was approved at our inaugural Reparations Conference on the 22nd October at Friends House, Euston:

“This UK Reparations Conference, held in London, England, October 21-22, 2023, organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Afrikan Reparations; 30 years after the Abuja Pan-African Conference on Reparations For African Enslavement, Colonisation And Neo-Colonisation;

Through bringing together hundreds of experts, scholars, elected officials, activists, community leaders and campaigners from across the globe, discussed at length, the crucial matter of reparative justice for the damage done to peoples of African descent across the world through forced enslavement, colonisation and neo-colonialism;

Recognises that the damage to African peoples has left an enduring legacy, resulting in global inequalities in international relations and economic governance, systemic racism and prejudice, unequal experiences in education, employment, criminal justice systems, healthcare and other walks of life;

Conscious that compensation for injustice does not need to take form of capital transfer but could include service to the victims or other forms of restitution;

Holds the belief that the legacy of the enslavement and trafficking of peoples of African descent, colonisation and neo-colonialism will not be fully addressed nor corrected until reparative justice is pursued and achieved;

We urge that this dialogue takes place by establishing an All-Party Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry for Truth, Justice and Reparations;

Calls upon national governments and global institutions that profited from forced enslavement, colonisation and neo-colonialism, to acknowledge the responsibility they have to repair the lasting damage and engage in meaningful dialogue on how to begin the process of reparatory justice.”