Speaking at the London School of Economics this week, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley redoubled her push for slavery reparations, saying that the movement demanding payment for historical wrongs had become a more pressing issue following the resurgence of Black Lives Matter and the killing of George Floyd in the United States in 2020.

The leftist Bajan leader, of the Barbados Labour Party, claimed that her country was owed a staggering $4.9 trillion in reparations for slavery from former colonial powers, but acknowledged that repayment of the supposed debt would “take time”.

“We’re not expecting that the reparatory damages will be paid in a year, or two, or five because the extraction of wealth and the damages took place over centuries. But we are demanding that we be seen and that we are heard,” Mottley said according to the left-wing Guardian newspaper.

The Barbadian prime minister cited figures compiled by the Boston-based Brattle Group, which has claimed that Britain owes $24 trillion to 14 different countries over the transatlantic slave trade. The group has also asserted that France owes $9.2 trillion, the Netherlands owes $4.86 trillion, and Spain owes $17.1 trillion for their roles in slavery.