Preparation for Reparation

The National Reparations Commission {NRC} has tabled a draft of its proposed reparations resolution.

The draft calls for, among other things, a deep dive into education of and about reparatory justice.

DRAFT RESOLUTION – SAINT LUCIA VERSION

Whereas it is well established that both the French and British colonists fought the Kalinago for territory and that while the Indigenous population resisted European settlement for decades that by the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Indigenous communities lost most of their land through warfare, colonial expansion, disease, and displacement, and were forced to flee to nearby islands or placed on a reservation in Dominica, and were replaced by enslaved Africans

And Whereas it is well-established that in 1772, in the decided case of Somerset and Stewart  noted that enslavement was outlawed in England having been found to be contrary to the Common Law, and recalling that enslavement of individuals was nonetheless legal within the British Colonial Empire, leading to the unjust, inhumane and forced removal of over twelve million Africans from the African Continent to the Western Hemisphere, while deeming these humans as property or chattel in  the Barbados Code of 1661

And understanding the role that these enslaved individuals, deprived of humanity, liberty, rights and an identity, played in the development of the early British and French Colonies, the 18th Century British economy, trade and thereafter the financing of the European Industrial Revolution, which has definitively been linked as a driving force behind the present climate and environmental crises,  as well as the entrenching  of its inhumanity and injustices into political, social, economic and cultural institutions and systems globally,

And cognizant of the impact that this brutal history has had on the underdevelopment of Caribbean and African nations, including the longstanding and persistent erasure of culture, the impact on education systems, indigenous knowledge, the creation of generational wealth, technological advancement, the inequality of women, the destruction of the family, and the health of the people of these nations,

And recalling that Parliament of the United Kingdom would discontinue the trading of enslaved individuals within the Empire in 1807, while recollecting with concern that the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 guaranteed the right of freedom for the enslaved within the United Kingdom and its colonies,  provided compensation only to the  enslavers who deemed the enslaved as chattel rather than human beings deprived of freedom, including scores of enslavers within the then colony  of Saint Lucia whose detailed financial claims remain within the annals of history,

And further recalling that during that heinous period, fourteen colonial wars were fought over Saint Lucia ensuring that the enslaved were seven (7) times British and seven (7) times French, conflicts which exacerbated the horrors of enslavement.

And troubled by the continued societal issues that this chain of historical events have caused, and have led to the United Nations 2001 Declaration that slavery and the slave trade, are crimes against humanity, and should have always been so, the effects of which continue to manifest in structural inequality, underdevelopment and racial injustice

And noting that on March 25th 2026, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Resolution acknowledging that the Trans-Atlantic Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement was the gravest crime against humanity,

BE IT RESOLVED that the Youth Parliament of Saint Lucia:

1. Calls for the full and unreserved implementation of the CARICOM Ten Point Plan for Reparatory Justice;

2. Urges the Government of Saint Lucia to explore avenues for reparations from both the British and the French relating to the enduring socio-economic and environmental impacts of slavery and colonialism, including climate vulnerability;

3. Recommends the established National Reparations Committee   coordinate all research, policy, and advocacy efforts on behalf of the Government of Saint Lucia;

4. Supports the development of legislation to govern the transparent management of any reparations resources;

5. Calls for comprehensive education reform to include African and Caribbean history, cultural identity, and reparations awareness within school curricula;

6. Encourages national public education campaigns to raise awareness about the legacy of enslavement and its modern-day impacts;

7. Promotes youth engagement and leadership in reparations advocacy and decision-making processes;

8. Supports the creation of funding mechanisms to invest in community development, education, and youth empowerment initiatives;

9. Encourages Saint Lucia’s foreign policy to align with regional and international efforts advocating for reparatory justice.

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that reparatory justice is a moral, legal, and historical obligation owed to the people of Saint Lucia and the wider Caribbean.