Indigenous leaders from lands once colonised by the British, have urged Charles III on Thursday to apologise for “centuries of racism” and the crown’s role in oppressing their people.
Representatives of indigenous communities from 12 former colonies addressed the monarch in a letter, demanding a formal apology, financial reparations as well as the return of stolen cultural artefacts.
Together, the leaders have united their voices to seek justice from the British monarchy and “recover from centuries of racism, oppression, colonialism and slavery.”
The letter was signed by indigenous leaders in Australia, where the first peoples were driven off their land, subjected to forced labour and massacred by settlers. Leaders from several Caribbean communities have also signed it.
While King Charles has stepped up efforts to engage with indigenous representatives in recent years, stressing that the Crown must “acknowledge the wrongs that shaped our past,” the letter implores him to go further.
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A lawyer representing Aboriginal leaders, Hannah McGlade, stated the issue of financial reparations is becoming a constant in indigenous claims.
“We are seeing more and more members of Aboriginal communities seeking reparations from the royal family” for wrongs suffered by their people, she tells AFP.
“A genocide happened on their watch,” the lawyer stated. The letter was also signed by indigenous community leaders from Canada, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
