Guterres calls on Western countries to pay compensation to Africans from the slave trade
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for compensation for people who were illegally trafficked as slaves from Africa to the countries of the Atlantic Ocean.
In his statement on the occasion of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Atlantic Slave Trade, Guterres said that slavery "laid the foundations of brutal discrimination based on European rule that continues to this day."
From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported on ships by European European traders, and sold into slavery. Those who survived the brutal journey ended up struggling in the fields of America, especially the United States, Brazil and the Caribbean .
The Secretary General of the United Nations has said: " Many of those who organized and operated the slave trade in the Atlantic Ocean accumulated great wealth. At the same time, the slaves were denied education, health services, opportunities and welfare."
According to Guterres, the lives of those enslaved were "ruled by terror," as they were raped, flogged, and subjected to other brutalities and humiliations.
Last September, a United Nations report recommended that nations consider offering financial reparations as a way to redress the abuses of slavery.
Today, the wealth of the United States and many European countries, especially England, the Netherlands and Spain, is derived from the profits obtained during the slave trade and on that basis these countries are now required to pay compensation to African countries due to the illegal trade.
