Reparations sought for enslaved Bantu people in Mauritius, citing historical injustices and ongoing harm
A call for reparatory justice for the descendants of enslaved Bantu people in Mauritius highlights the historical context of the slave trade and its lasting impact. Commemorating the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, the article emphasizes that the United Nations General Assembly declared slavery "The Gravest Crime Against Humanity" in 2026. Professor Sir Hilary Beckles states that the legal case for reparatory justice is established, and the focus is now on implementation. The enslaved Bantu people, ancestors of Mauritius's Creole community, were abducted from Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa and Madagascar through state-sponsored, commercial ventures by European colonial powers, including Great Britain and France, and their partners, the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. These actions are described as acts of terrorism that led to institutionalized chattel slavery in Mauritius, fueling the colonial sugar economy. When Great Britain enforced the Slavery Abolition Act in 1835, it compensated white planters and slave owners with over 2 million pounds sterling but refused to compensate the 66,343 registered enslaved individuals. The formerly enslaved were left without resources, rights, land, housing, or capital, inheriting only the determination to survive in a society shaped by slavery's inequalities. The article argues that the formerly enslaved Bantu people, now largely identified as the Creole community, were fo
