DEMANDING reparations from the French government to Haiti, the Assembly of Caribbean People accompanied by trade unions and other organisations delivered a letter to the French Embassy on April 17.
As the letter was handed over to a representative of the French ambassador, David Abdulah, who is a member of the assembly’s regional executive committee, indicated that the letter was in French so the ambassador would have no excuse for not understanding the importance of its contents.
The delivery was done on the 200-year anniversary of France demanding a 150 million gold francs debt in exchange for Haiti's independence.
On that same day the letter was delivered, French President Emmanuel Macron said that historic injustice was imposed on Haiti when it was forced to pay the colossal indemnity to France 200 years ago.
The Associated Press (AP) reported that Macron said in a statement that France “subjected the people of Haiti to a heavy financial indemnity...This decision placed a price on the freedom of a young nation, which was thus confronted with the unjust force of history from its very inception."
The AP report said Macron also announced the creation of a joint French-Haitian historical commission to “examine our shared past" and assess relations, but did not directly address long-standing Haitian demands for reparations.
[caption id="attachment_1150349" align="alignnone" width="1024"] David Abdulah, a member of the regional executive committee of the Assembly of Caribbean People, delivers a letter demanding reparations for Haiti to a representative of the French Embassy on Mary Street, Port of Spain on April 17. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale[/caption]
Carol Noel, director of the Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women, said at the embassy, “Normally on anniversaries we are happy, we are joyful and we look back on all of our achievements. But the people of Haiti cannot rejoice, they are in anguish, they are in pain, they are denied certain privileges, and what is theirs has been denied to them.
"They are suffering, not only because of natural disasters, but because of what man has done to them and we need to lend our voice to that situation...They have no shelter and they have a whole nation that owes them money. A debt has to be paid, you incur a debt, it has to be paid."
She encouraged all citizens of TT and the wider Caribbean to stand in solidarity with Haiti in demanding justice.
Representing the Emancipation Support Committee and the Caribbean Freedom Project, activist Shabaka Kambon quoted Guyanese poet Martin Carter as he spoke in front of the embassy.
“One of his poems is called Looking at Your Hands and in that poem he starts by saying, ‘No I will not still my voice, I have too much to claim.’
“That line really speaks to what we are here for this morning. We are here this morning because we have too much to claim on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Haiti. This morning we stand in solidarity with all those who would hear this call and are in front
