Benin to give nationality to descendants of those deported as slaves

Melissa Chemam with RFI
·1-min read
A sculpture entitled 'Slave Chain with Four Yokes' from the Dexue voodoo convent in Adounko, Benin, dating from the 19th century.

In Benin, the government has voted through a law offering nationality to "people with an African ancestor deported as part of the slave trade", with applications due to open in December.

When introducing the bill to parliament last May, the Beninese government stated that the slave trade had "left deep wounds on Africa and the descendants of the deported people" and that it wished to to help reconnect these descendants with their origins.

Millions of enslaved Africans were dispatched from the shores of West Africa, including from Benin’s beaches.

Following the adoption of a law on 30 July paving the way for recognition of Beninese nationality for Afro-descendants, the government published the terms of the decree on 20 November.

According to RFI's correspondent in Cotonou, Jean-Luc Aplogan, applications are to be submitted online, with a site under construction and due to be accessible from the start of December.

The move has already aroused great interest among people of African descent, according to our correspondent – particularly among Afro-descendants born in Haiti, Brazil and the Caribbean. People from those countries have become frequent visitors to Benin, notably since the country's President Patrice Talon made memorials to the slave trade a central tenet of tourism on the country.

The idea received early support from prominent French citizens with origins in the West Indies, including Mère Jah, a pioneer of Pan-Africanism from Guadeloupe, who had moved to Benin, and passed away in May this year.


Read more on RFI English

Read also:
Commonwealth leaders say 'time has come' for discussion on slavery reparations
How could countries finance reparations for historical injustices?
'Dahomey' film invites colonial past to speak through Benin's stolen treasures

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