Germany on Friday recognized the genocide in Namibia for the first time during its colonial rule, with Berlin pledging more than one billion euros in financial support to help projects in the African country. This was stated in a statement issued by the German Foreign Ministry on May 28.
Kyiv. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – May 28, 2021 – International News
“I am glad and grateful that we have agreed with Namibia on a common line on the darkest history in our common history … Our goal has been and remains to find a common path to true reconciliation in preserving the memory of the victims. ourselves what we call the events of the German colonial era in present-day Namibia and, in particular, the atrocities between 1904 and 1908. without now omitting them, we will now officially call these events what they were today: genocide “, – said German Foreign Minister Gaiko Maas in a statement.
He reminded that the talks between the authorities of Germany and Namibia, aimed at resolving differences over the events of centuries ago and the official attitude to them, lasted more than five years. Representatives of the Guerrero and Nama peoples were also involved.
Maas said Germany would launch a special 1.1 billion euro reconstruction and development program for Namibia.
This amount will be paid over 30 years, according to AFP sources close to the negotiations, and should primarily benefit the descendants of Guerrero and Nama.
Namibia was called German South-West Africa during Berlin’s rule in 1884-1915 and then came under South African rule for 75 years before finally gaining independence in 1990.
Tensions escalated in 1904, when the Guerrero, deprived of their livestock and land, revolted and were soon followed by the Nama, and the revolt was suppressed by German imperial troops.
Between 1904 and 1908, at least 60,000 members of the Guerrero people and about 10,000 members of the Nama people were killed.
Mass executions were carried out then; the exile of men, women, and children to the desert, where thousands died of thirst; the establishment of infamous concentration camps, for example, on Shark Island.
On May 27, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged France’s responsibility for the genocide in Rwanda.
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Source: Ukrgate