The Caribbean’s reparations movement is entering a new phase and Saint Lucia will be part of the regional push to move the issue from decades of advocacy toward concrete action.
Saint Lucia is set to participate in the Third CARICOM Regional Conference on Reparations in Barbados from September 17 to 19, where regional leaders, diplomats, academics and activists are expected to focus heavily on implementing a new reparatory justice agenda.
At the centre of the discussions will be the revised CARICOM Ten-Point Plan for Reparatory Justice and a proposed 2027–2031 Action Plan designed to establish measurable targets for diplomatic and financial advocacy.
The gathering comes amid growing international momentum surrounding reparations. Earlier this year, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/80/250, which described the transatlantic trade and chattel enslavement of African people as the gravest crime against humanity. CARICOM Reparations Commission Chair Professor Sir Hilary Beckles said the vote demonstrated the scale of international support, noting that under the leadership of the African Union and CARICOM, “123 countries spoke resoundingly with one voice” in recognising the injustice and suffering inflicted on Africans over more than four centuries.
For Beckles, that recognition fundamentally changes the conversation surrounding reparations. He argued that the question is no longer whether Caribbean countries have a legitimate case, declaring, “The case has been made. There’s nothing more to discuss whether there’s a case or not.” Instead, he said, the movement has reached the stage of “implementation and demand,” with Africa and CARICOM providing leadership for the next phase.
That shift will help shape discussions when delegates gather at the Wyndham Grand Sam Lord’s Castle in Saint Philip, Barbados, under the theme “Reparatory Justice as the Coming Enlightenment.”
Delegates are also expected to examine emerging African and Caribbean political perspectives and align the regional movement with major international initiatives, including the 25th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Second International Decade for People of African Descent and the African Union Decade for Reparatory Justice.
For Saint Lucia, the regional discussions build on ongoing national advocacy. Earl Bousquet, Chair of the Saint Lucia National Reparations Committee, believes the movement must now transform its international visibility into coordinated action. He described the conference theme of a “Coming Enlightenment” as a global necessity capable of taking reparations from what he called “the most popular Human Rights issue globally” into a new phase centred on uniting the movement around action.
Bousquet has also sought to challenge one of the persistent misconceptions surrounding the CARICOM reparations campaign: that reparations simply mean individual cash payments.
“The CARICOM call for reparations is not about each of us collecting a cheque,” he said, explaining that the regional campaign instead seeks atonement through reparatory justice by addressing specific areas of Caribbean need linked to the continuing legacy of slavery.
The Barbados conference represents the latest stage of a regional campaign formally advanced at the First CARICOM Regional Conference on Reparations in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2013, which established the CARICOM Reparations Commission’s terms of reference. A second conference followed in Antigua and Barbuda in 2014, alongside subsequent regional discussions examining banking, economic development and historical accountability.
More than a decade later, the focus in Barbados will be considerably sharper: building a unified international front and determining how the Caribbean converts growing support for reparatory justice into tangible results.
