ACRRA / African-Caribbean Reparations & Resettlement Alliance

15/08/2026

Pay attention!

12/08/2026

JUST IN: 🇲🇬 Madagascar’s High Constitutional Court has upheld a landmark law that transfers colonial-era land still registered in foreign names to the Malagasy state.

In Decision No. 15-HCC/D3 issued on 3 August 2026, the court declared Law No. 2026-007 constitutional and ordered its publication in the Official Journal. The National Assembly had adopted the legislation on 1 July 2026.

What the law does
The law uses Madagascar’s independence day 26 June 1960 as the cut-off date. Any land title that was still registered in a foreign name on that day and has never since been transferred to a Malagasy owner now passes automatically into state ownership.

Key exceptions
Authorities confirmed three clear exemptions:
- Diplomatic and consular properties
- Land already transferred to Malagasy citizens before independence
- Land held by foreigners who later became naturalized Malagasy citizens and registered that change with the land registry

Official framing
The government presents the measure as the final legal step in the decolonization of land ownership, closing a chapter that began under French colonial rule. Once the law is promulgated and published, a national census and inventory of affected parcels is expected to begin.

The decision settles a long-standing legal question over titles that remained in foreign names more than six decades after independence.

11/08/2026

The Republic of Benin is opening a new path to citizenship for eligible Afro-descendants who can prove that their ancestors were taken from sub-Saharan Africa during the transatlantic slave trade.🇧🇯

The initiative comes from a 2024 law and was officially launched through the government’s ‘My Afro Origins’ platform in 2025.

To qualify, applicants must generally be at least 18 years old and provide evidence linking them to an African ancestor who was deported during the slave trade.

People who are already citizens of a sub-Saharan African country are not eligible under this specific program.

10/08/2026

Throughout history, almost every national liberation struggle has been labelled “terrorism” by the powers exercising colonial rule or foreign occupation. This strategy is nothing new.

The British Empire branded IRA fighters in Ireland and EOKA guerrillas in Cyprus as terrorists. France portrayed Algeria’s National Liberation Front (FLN) as a criminal organisation. The same happened to the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO), the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) in Namibia, and even Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC).

by Sayid Marcos Tenorio

Read: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260808-when-the-coloniser-calls-resistance-terrorism/

04/08/2026

The New Yorker

04/08/2026

04/08/2026

Today, I remember the men and women whose names history did not record, but whose courage made Barbados possible. Freedom was not gifted to them. They refused to surrender their humanity and kept faith with a future they would never see. They did not know our names, but they fought for our lives.

Bussa remains one of the clearest symbols of that courage. The uprising he led declared that our people had never consented to enslavement and would never accept it as their destiny. His sacrifice leaves us one question: What will we do with the freedom for which they paid so dearly?

Remembrance alone is not an answer. Emancipation removed the legal chains, but did not restore the land, wealth or opportunity taken from generations. Reparatory justice is truth spoken, responsibility accepted and repair made practical. An apology without repair is eloquence without justice.

This year, the United Nations General Assembly and CARICOM carried this cause further. Barbados will continue to lead and prepare the generation that must finish the work.

Government will therefore establish three postgraduate scholarships through the Ministry responsible for Pan African Affairs in the Prime Minister’s Office, in collaboration with The University of the West Indies at Cave Hill and Mona and the University of Glasgow. At least three Barbadians will pursue master’s studies at Glasgow in Black Studies and related disciplines, with a strong emphasis on reparatory justice.

These scholarships are freedom carried into knowledge. Across the same Atlantic that carried our ancestors in chains, their descendants will now travel by choice, rooted in identity and equipped to shape the work of justice.

Emancipation must also live in how we treat one another. There can be no freedom where violence silences hope, inequality closes doors or indifference strips another person of dignity.

Our ancestors survived. They resisted. They handed freedom forward. The work is now ours.

May they know that we did not inherit their courage in vain.

Emancipation is what they won. Justice is what we owe them.

Let us complete the journey.

03/08/2026

The University of the West Indies (The UWI), in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister of Jamaica, will host a landmark high level dialogue on reparation featuring His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, during his official visit to Jamaica.

The Special High Level Reparation Dialogue, takes place on Monday, August 3, 2026, from 4:30 p.m. (Jamaica) | 5:30 p.m. (Eastern Caribbean/AST) at the Eon Nigel Harris Council Room, The UWI Regional Headquarters, and will be broadcast live via UWItv, extending its reach across the region and globally.

The dialogue between His Excellency President Mahama and Vice Chancellor of The UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, comes against the backdrop of the President’s official visit to Jamaica, at the invitation of the Government. It is both timely and symbolic, reflecting the growing global momentum around reparatory justice and reaffirms The UWI’s role as a thought leader in the Caribbean and a convenor of critical conversations that inform regional and global policy debates.

Vice-Chancellor Beckles will engage President Mahama in a focused exchange connecting historical truth with contemporary policy discourse. The discussion will examine the evolving reparations agenda, the responsibilities of states, and the role of institutions in advancing justice and equity.

The programme will include opening remarks from Professor Sonjah Stanley Niaah, Director of the Centre for Reparation Research at The UWI, remarks from His Excellency President Mahama and the Vice Chancellor of The UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles and a question and answer session engaging members of the audience. A representative of Jamaica’s Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport will deliver closing remarks, underscoring the national and regional significance of the dialogue.

Members of the media and the general public are invited to tune in to the live broadcast of this significant event, which will be streamed via UWItv on www.uwitv.global, UWItv’s page and UWItv’s dedicated Flow Channels.

03/08/2026

MESSAGE FROM THE CARICOM REPARATIONS COMMISSION
Emancipation Day 2026 | 1 August 2026

"For the Caribbean Community, Emancipation Day is inextricably linked with the movement for reparatory justice. Political freedom, though hard won, did not erase the profound structural inequalities created by centuries of exploitation. The wealth extracted from enslaved African labour financed the development of European empires while leaving Caribbean societies to contend with underdevelopment, economic dependency, and persistent racial disparities. These historical injustices continue to impede sustainable development and demand meaningful redress."

Read the CRC's full message here:
https://caricom.org/emancipation-day-message-caricom-reparations-commission-1-august-2026/