St. Helena Urged to Repatriate 325 Remains of Enslaved People to Africa

By Al Mayadeen English

The British overseas territory may face legal action over failure to fulfill the reburial plan after remains were discovered during the airport project.

A British overseas territory is facing pressure to repatriate the remains of 325 formerly enslaved individuals to their ancestral lands in Africa or potentially encounter legal consequences.

The remains were unearthed in 2008 during the construction of an access road for a new airport on the remote South Atlantic Ocean island of St. Helena. They were held in storage for 14 years before being reburied.

Despite the approval of a master plan for a respectful reburial and commemoration, as well as the protection of the African burial ground in Rupert’s Valley, described as a significant reminder of the transatlantic slave trade, St. Helena's government, led by a UK Foreign Office appointee, has reportedly failed to fulfill its obligations.

Co-authors Annina van Neel and Peggy King Jorde point to the absence of a memorial at the reburial site and the lack of establishment of a national conservation area to safeguard the original burial ground.

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Van Neel, who served as the environment officer for the airport project when the remains were discovered, has partnered with the State of the African Diaspora (Soad) to facilitate the repatriation of the 325 individuals and to prevent further disturbance of the site.

The St. Helena case is just one of several accusations initiated this month by Soad, a group recognized by the African Union, seeking restitution from various countries, institutions, and individuals, including the UK.

St. Helena's £285 million airport - initially dubbed the "world's most useless airport" due to challenging landing conditions caused by high winds - was constructed with the aim of connecting one of the world's most isolated inhabited islands with the global community. 

The individuals buried on the island, including 3,000 children, were victims of the harrowing "middle passage". They were part of a group exceeding 25,000 Africans rescued from illegal Portuguese slave vessels and brought to St. Helena in the mid-19th century.

Despite being termed "liberated Africans", many of them were subsequently transported to the British West Indies to serve as indentured laborers for the crown. Those who remained on St. Helena endured overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions, engaged in menial jobs, and suffered from food shortages, ultimately leading to their demise.

Soad and the International Commission on Heritage and Culture (ICHC), acting on behalf of numerous states, nations, and indigenous territories, reference various international codes and conventions to support their claims. These include the UNESCO Convention on preventing the illicit import, export, and transfer of cultural property; the Unidroit Convention on stolen or illegally exported cultural objects; the museum code of ethics; and a 2019 European Parliament resolution aimed at identifying and recovering looted art.

Additional claims are expected to be submitted following the initial letters as part of what Soad and the ICHC describe as a "class diplomatic action."

The letters read, “We are calling on the western nations and related entities to restitute and return the stolen, looted, pillaged cultural goods, works of art and human remains which were taken unlawfully and return back to the rightful legal and lawful owners."

“We also make this call with respect to African and indigenous American Indian human remains which are unceremoniously laying in western burial grounds, such as on the Island of St Helena, as an example,” it added.

A spokesperson for the St. Helena government stated that they are reviewing the letter from Soad but emphasized that "significant progress" has been achieved in implementing the recommendations outlined in the master plan. They described the plan as an evolving document with multiple phases of implementation.

The spokesperson mentioned ongoing efforts to secure funding and construct a memorial and interpretation center in Rupert’s Valley. Furthermore, the spokesperson indicated that the burial sites have been officially recognized and assigned plot numbers in the Land Registry. 

"As parcelled land belonging to the crown estate, no development is permitted at these sites, avoiding any further disturbance,” the spokesperson added.