UK abstains from vote to recognise slave trade as 'gravest crime against humanity'
The resolution- proposed by Ghana- was adopted by the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, passing with 123 votes in favour, three against (United States, Israel & Argentina) and 52 abstentions among the 193 member states.
It formally recognises the trafficking of enslaved Africans and the transatlantic slave trade as among the most severe violations in human history, and calls for action to address their lasting impact.
The resolution calls for countries to engage in discussions on reparations, including formal apologies, financial compensation, the return of cultural artefacts and reforms to tackle systemic racism and inequality.
It also urges the “prompt and unhindered restitution” of cultural property such as artworks, monuments and national archives to countries of origin without charge.
UK refuses to pay reparations
Countries like the UK have long rejected calls to pay reparations, saying today's institutions cannot be held responsible for past wrongs.
In February 2015, the British Government completed repaying the loan of 20 million pounds that it borrowed to compensate enslavers so that they would agree to the emancipation of the enslaved people in 1834. The modern equivalent of £17bn was paid out to compensate slave owners for the loss of their human property.
Meanwhile, former Governor of the Virgin Islands, Augustus J.U. Jaspert, said in September 2020 that the United Kingdom's (UK) position on paying reparations to the Virgin Islands for acts of slavery and the slave trade is not the position of the Crown at the moment, hinting that the VI should expect nothing.
“In terms of reparations, that’s not a position the United Kingdom has taken, that’s not something that here [VI], that’s is in the position, but I think it is always worth ensuring that we learn lessons from the past and we reflect on what a horrific period in history that was,” he had said on a live Facebook interview on Monday, September 7, 2020, with 284 Media.
Many progressive Virgin Islanders had said the Governor’s response and presence in the Virgin Islands was a manifestation of white supremacy and that his office remains a remnant of slavery and colonial rule.
Resolution not legally binding
Unlike UN Security Council resolutions, those from the General Assembly are not legally binding, though they carry the weight of global opinion.
Between 1500 and 1800, around 12-15 million people were captured in Africa and taken to the Americas where they were forced to work as slaves. It is estimated that over two million people died on the journey.
The resolution, backed by the African Union and the Caribbean Community, states that the consequences of slavery persist in the form of racial inequalities and underdevelopment, "affecting Africans and people of African descent in all parts of the world".
Follow Us On
34 Responses to “UK abstains from vote to recognise slave trade as 'gravest crime against humanity'”
Mia Mottley - "Equality for equals; proportionality for unequals." No more deflection of their historic crimes: Reparation is due. Nuff said.
“ Meanwhile, former Governor of the Virgin Islands, Augustus J.U. Jaspert, said in September 2020 that the United Kingdom's (UK) position on paying reparations to the Virgin Islands for acts of slavery and the slave trade is not the position of the Crown at the moment, hinting that the VI should expect nothing.
“In terms of reparations, that’s not a position the United Kingdom has taken, that’s not something that here [VI], that’s is in the position, but I think it is always worth ensuring that we learn lessons from the past and we reflect on what a horrific period in history that was,” he had said on a live Facebook interview on Monday, September 7, 2020, with 284 Media.” Let’s not forget that Jaspert in addition to towing the party line also find it convenient to assert that the names of some locations should be retained for historical reasons.
The UK and others are refusing to apologize or make descendants whole whole is avoiding reparative justice.
Just think how great the world would be if the African slave trade never happened and Africans were never spread around the world.
I'm not surprised, as the very treatment of that young woman, is the very exactitude, of the problem itself!
The vast hundreds of thousands of acres in Africa, for the produce of Lindley teas- a direct relative of the Mountbattens, amongst other holdings, is among the very reasons, why such an acknowledgement , could never take place!
Yet, in this territory, Virgin Islanders, are encouraged, to see persons from this area of the world, as having simulations, of a form of human...
SMFH
See the link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWWGrcniAzQ/?igsh=MTVrNnpkajhwa3Ixdg%3D%3D&wa_status_inline=true
I'm not sure. But doing so would definitely help Israel in ethnically cleansing Palestine.
the organized, often violent attempt by a particular cultural or racial group to completely remove from a country or area all members of a different group. If i had one wish it would be peace for both Palestine and Israel. I think peace for both of them would be to relocate both from the region and put a crater there to prevent both from ever returning. Then they will be no more wars.