German Redress for Namibia Genocide Spurs Colonial-Era Reckoning
Kaula Nhongo and Mike Cohen, Bloomberg News Heiko Maas, Germany s foreign affairs minister, arrives on day two of the G-7 foreign and development ministers meeting at Lancaster House in London, U.K., on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is hosting the meeting through May 5. , Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) Germanyâs admission that a colonial-era massacre in Namibia constituted genocide shines a light on Europeâs shameful imperial past and growing calls for a reckoning, potentially giving fresh impetus to claims for redress from other formerly occupied nations.
Berlin has offered Namibia 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to be used to fund land reform, rural infrastructure, water supply and training in communities whose ancestors bore the brunt of the killing spree. The aid offer did not infer any legal claim to reparations, but wa