00:00Can former colonial powers ever fully repair their crimes?
00:03The President of France says it's not possible.
00:07Emmanuel Macron just gave a speech marking the 25th anniversary of France adopting a law
00:11that recognized slavery as a crime against humanity.
00:14Campaigners, though, were hoping that he would use the occasion to announce reparations for Haiti.
00:20So, why Haiti?
00:21During the slave trade, France forcibly relocated around 800,000 Africans to Haiti.
00:27The slaves were used to produce sugar, coffee, and other cash crops for the global market.
00:32This production made Haiti, known at the time as Saint-Domingue, one of France's most profitable colonies.
00:39The slave system in Haiti was notoriously harsh, and the African slaves eventually defeated the French in a violent uprising.
00:47That saw Haiti become the first country ever to free itself from slavery.
00:51But the story of Haiti's liberation is both triumphant and tragic.
00:55Because France made Haiti pay for its freedom, and it didn't come cheap.
00:59Haiti was forced to compensate French plantation owners for the property they lost when Haiti became independent.
01:06That property included the slaves they owned.
01:09The French king sent warships and besieged the island, telling Haiti's leaders to agree to the debt or face the
01:15consequences.
01:16The country of former slaves folded.
01:18But because Haiti couldn't afford the ransom, it had to take high-interest loans from a French bank.
01:23This effectively became a double debt Haiti only managed to pay after more than 120 years.
01:30One academic described it as the greatest heist in history.
01:34Past estimates by the Haitian National Committee on Restitution and Reparations suggest the value of the payment today is anywhere
01:40between $40 and $140 billion.
01:43Academics and economic experts have long argued that the money France made Haiti pay for its freedom is part of
01:50the reason the island nation is poor and underdeveloped.
01:54Campaigners say this is why recognition without reparations isn't enough.
01:59Campaigners say this is why recognition without gaiters and depressive state of morality is well taken into the height of
01:59the other country.
01:59The land of the children is part of thenormists' awareness of the land of perpetrator and the the land of
01:59the land of the land of the land.
01:59Obrigado.
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