Reparations commission says Commonwealth summit in Antigua must focus on slavery as King Charles tours region
Sir Hilary Beckles calls the meeting "the reparations CHOGM" as the King begins his first Caribbean tour as monarch in The Bahamas.
NASSAU, Bahamas. The Caribbean Reparations Commission (CRC), which is preparing to formally demand reparations from Britain and other European former slave-trading nations, says the Commonwealth leaders' summit in Antigua must focus on Britain's role in the slave trade.
The commission argues that with King Charles attending as head of the Commonwealth, the issue must take centre stage. The three-day summit of 56 nations begins on November 1.
"The region is mobilised, the governments are mobilised, so there is no way to describe this CHOGM meeting other than the reparations CHOGM. That is what it is," said Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, the commission's chairman.
No apology planned
Buckingham Palace has said that while the King will not shy away from the issue, there are no plans for London to issue a formal apology for the slave trade. Britain has also refused to discuss reparation payments. Regional activists want more.
"There will be no attempt to embarrass His Majesty or any member of the Commonwealth, but in the back of everyone's mind there's going to be the dialogue of reparations," said Beckles, who addressed British lawmakers on the issue in 2014. "There will be a 'dialogue of decency.'"
Royal itinerary
King Charles was scheduled to arrive in The Bahamas on October 27 for a two-day visit, the first leg of his first tour of the region as monarch. He will then fly to Guyana on Thursday for two days before travelling to Antigua and Barbuda for the biennial summit, last held in Samoa two years ago.
His last visit to the region as monarch was in April, an official visit to Bermuda, a British territory.
Beckles has appealed directly to the King. "I am appealing to the man, I am appealing to Charles Windsor, a parent, a grandparent," he said recently.
"We are calling upon the King as a man, as a human brother, to provide leadership to this organisation over which he presides," he added.
