African nations are pressing for compensation for centuries of exploitation and slavery inflicted by European states, Mary Robinson, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, confirmed yesterday. The issue is likely to be the most controversial at the UN conference against racism to be held in Durban, South Africa, at the end of August.
Asked about compensation for nations whose populations were depleted by the slave trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, Mrs Robsinson said: "This has been raised by African countries. And having been raised, it is recognised for its sheer complexity. It will be for the delegates to decide how it is addresssed."
Some European countries, she said, "admitted they had serious problems" about the issue of compensation.
Mrs Robinson said she hoped the week-long conference's closing declaration would be in such "solemn language" that it would resonate around the world for millions who felt they had been the victims of racism.
Some countries look back on their imperial past with nostalgia but as an Irish citizen, Mrs Robinson said she didn't feel "the time we were colonised was a glorious period in our history".
She also announced the creation of an "eminent persons group to sketch a vision of a future free of racism". It will be headed by former South African president, Nelson Mandela, and will include Mikhail Gorbachev and Jimmy Carter.
