Germany inches closer to ‘genocide’ settlement

A deal that could set a precedent for former colonies all around the world is being thrashed out between Germany and Namibia, to heal the wounds of what’s now widely regarded as a genocide by colonial forces. In Namibia, descendants of both victims and colonisers are arguing fiercely about the talks. ‘My great-grandmother told me some of our family were brought here and forced to work, and they died,’ said Swakopmund resident Laidlaw Peringanda. BBC News reports that he’s talking about the years 1904-1908, when present-day Namibia was the German colony of South West Africa. Tens of thousands died as colonial forces brutally suppressed uprisings by two of the main peoples of the country, the Herero and Nama, killing many and driving others into a desert where many starved to death. Survivors ended up in camps where they were used as slave labour, dying of cold, malnutrition, exhaustion and violence. As many as 65 000 of the 80 000 Herero living in German South West Africa at the start of colonial rule are estimated to have perished. Since 2015, when Germany formally acknowledged that the atrocities constituted genocide, it has been negotiating a restorative justice deal with Namibia that will set a global precedent. Never before has a former colonial power sat down with a former colony in this way to work out a comprehensive agreement about the legacy of the past. The bigger question for Namibians is what form any material compensation will take. The hope is that the German Government will fund a land reform programme to enable farms to be bought from German Namibian farmers, and distributed to Herero and Nama. The German government refuses to use the word ‘reparations’ but Namibia’s chief negotiator Zed Ngavirue says other practical projects being discussed include possible German help with health, education, housing and water desalination. He says the talks are too delicate to name any sums yet.