Professor Clive Thomas
BY alexis rodney
Guyanese economist Dr Clive Thomas said he opposes the idea of trading reparations for debt relief, but would endorse giving compensation to the descendants of African slaves.
Guyana is part of a 15-member Caribbean Reparations Commission which has laid some demands to Europe, seeking compensation for the suffering inflicted on their foreparents as a result of the Atlantic Slave Trade.
The Caricom Reparations Commission says the effects of the trade which spread between the 16th and 19th centuries, have contributed to the economic crisis currently experienced in Caribbean countries (Image taken from
www.pilotguides.com
)
The Caricom Reparations Commission says the effects of the trade which spread between the 16th and 19th centuries, have contributed to the economic crisis currently experienced in Caribbean countries (Image taken from
www.pilotguides.com
)
They claim too that the effects of the trade, which spread between the 16th and 19th centuries, have contributed to the economic crisis currently experienced in Caribbean countries.
Thomas, in an exclusive interview with Guyana Times, said the issue of reparations is one that has been bothering a number of individuals, especially in other parts of the Caribbean where they have taken the stance that it should be given as form of debt relief because of their economic situation.
Not as severe
But the condition in Guyana is not as severe as in other parts of the Region. As such, he told Guyana Times that should the Caricom Reparations Commission be successful in acquiring compensation from its former colonial masters, Guyana should give its portion to the descendants of the slaves.
“The households and individuals should get the support that is estimated from the grants given for reparations and hand it to the slaves. I think some of them will make constructive decisions,†he told this publication.
He stressed that no Government should become involved with the handling of compensation since it will definitely lead to a number of discrepancies. He was positive that persons would make the best use of the compensation.
“Some of them will probably clear debts, purchase houses, probably get into some business and things that would encourage a Government to grow.â€
Speaking to the issue of trading of reparations for debt relief, Dr Thomas said the situation has been cleared for Guyana.
He pointed to the debt crisis in 1982 where the Government had defaulted in national debt. That debt had reached close to 600 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, today, the debt to GDP ratio is about 65 per cent of the total debt and 46 per cent for the external debt.
No case
“So in Guyana, we do not have a case from that and no money will be coming our way from that if it is going to be the basis for our demand. I totally oppose the idea of trading reparations for debt relief because it does not apply to Guyana.â€
He said it may be applicable for the rest of the Caribbean where the debt GDP ratio is over 100 per cent.
The Caribbean Reparations Committee, which was launched in July of last year had set a number of demands to the former European slave trade nations.
These include those countries providing diplomatic help to persuade countries, such as Ghana and Ethiopia, to offer citizenship to the children of people from the Caribbean who “return†to Africa; devising a developmental strategy to help improve the lives of poor communities in the Caribbean still devastated by the after-effects of slavery, supporting cultural exchanges between the Caribbean and West Africa to help Caribbean people of African descent rebuild their sense of history and identity; supporting literacy drives designed to improve education levels that are still dire in many Caribbean communities; and providing medical assistance to the Region that is struggling from high levels of chronic diseases such as hypertension and Type Two Diabetes that the Caricom Reparations Commission links to the fallout from slavery.
It has been reported that if the European powers fail to publicly apologise and refuse to come to the negotiating table, the Caricom nations will file a lawsuit against them at the International Court of Justice in Hague.
Mixed reactions
According to reports, the reaction of the former slave trading European nations to Caricom’s demands has so far been mixed.
While a high-level Swedish official recently revealed that his Government welcomes the opportunity to have a reparations dialogue with Caricom, a British Foreign Office official shot down the plan, saying that the UK has already expressed condemnation of the human suffering caused by slavery and the slave trade, but does not see reparations as the answer.
Caricom Reparations Committee Chairman, Sir Hilary Beckles had said that the plan is also to set out areas of dialogue with former slave-trading nations, including the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
The claims are being channelled through the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and processed with the help of the London law firm Leigh Day.
The economies of Caricom member states reportedly total close to US$78 billion in GDP, which would place the Region at 65th in the world if it were a single country.
Reports are that the Region cannot claim much in the way of the economic blow. However, after having suffered over 400 years of slavery and colonialism at the hands of European powers, its demands for reparations possess enormous moral authority.
The Transatlantic slave trade brought over 10 million captured Africans to work as chattel slaves in sugar and cotton plantations throughout the Caribbean and the Americas. It was the largest forced migration in human history.
Today, Caricom nations have a population of 16 million, and the Diaspora in the United States, Canada and Europe totals about four-five million people.
FIRST PUBLISHED IN GUYANA TIMES
