GNV News 2025/4/30

On 2025/4/17, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that an investigation would be conducted into the indemnity tied to Haiti’s independence and its impacts. The investigation will be carried out by a joint commission of French and Haitian historians.

In 1825, France demanded a large indemnity in exchange for recognizing Haiti’s independence. This indemnity was ostensibly to compensate French citizens for losses of property and enslaved people, but in fact the amount far exceeded those losses. In addition, after Haiti fell into default because of the indemnity payments, France pressured it to take out loans from French banks. This is also referred to as a double debt.

According to a investigation by the New York Times in 2022, over 120 years Haiti paid about US$560 million to France in indemnity and debt service. The paper also reported that, without these payments, Haiti’s economy would have benefited by about US$21 billion over the long term, and Haitians’ per capita income in 2018 would have been 6 times higher.

 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the indemnity agreement, and in January former chair of Haiti’s Provisional Presidential Council, Leslie Voltaire, demanded that France pay reparations for the independence debt and slavery.

 This is not the first time Haiti has sought reparations. In 2003, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide argued that France should pay Haiti about US$21 billion in reparations. The following year, Aristide was ousted in a coup. One reason France is said to have supported the coup was his demand for reparations.

 In his statement, President Macron did not mention Haiti’s claims for reparations from France.

 Learn more about Haiti’s history and politics → 「Haiti: The absence of government and its prospects」

 Learn more about former President Aristide and the coup → 「Overview of a turbulent Haiti」

Citadelle Laferrière: a fortress built in Haiti after independence in anticipation of a French invasion (Photo: Alan Owens  / Flickr [CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ])