Barbados seeks reparations for slavery from British lawmaker

MEXICO CITY - Caribbean island country Barbados is seeking reparations for slavery from a British lawmaker whose ancestor was deeply implicated in the slave trade, a media outlet has reported.

"The government of Barbados is considering plans to make a wealthy Conservative MP the first individual to pay reparations for his ancestor's pivotal role in slavery," British daily newspaper The Guardian reported on Saturday.

Richard Drax, a lawmaker representing the region of South Dorset in Britain, has recently traveled to the island to meet privately with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, whose government is considering legal action against Drax in case it reaches no agreement with him, according to the report.

"The Drax family pioneered the plantation system in the 17th century and played a major role in the development of sugar and slavery across the Caribbean and the United States," it said.

"If the issue cannot be resolved we would take legal action in the international courts," said Barbados MP Trevor Prescod, chairman of the Barbados National Task Force on Reparations, part of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Reparations Commission.

He added that the United Nations has declared slavery, which involved mass kidnappings in Africa to supply plantations in the New World with free labor, a crime against humanity.

Caricom countries "have been campaigning for the payment of reparations by former colonial powers and institutions which profited from slavery. This is the first time a family has been singled out," said the report.