Macron seeks ‘forgiveness’ for colonialism during Madagascar visit
During a visit to Madagascar on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his intention to pursue "forgiveness" for France’s colonial past on the Indian Ocean island, including efforts to return cultural artifacts.
“Our presence here is not innocent, and our history has been written… with deeply painful pages,” Macron said during a remembrance ceremony at the former royal palace in the capital, Antananarivo, News.Az reports citing The Guardian.
“Only you can make this journey of forgiveness,” he said after a visit of the palace with Princess Fenosoa Ralandison Ratsimamanga.
“But we are creating the conditions for it, by making it possible… to mourn what is no longer.”
Macron highlighted the planned return of various cultural items taken from the island by its French occupiers, including the skull of a king decapitated in 1897 by French troops and taken to France as a trophy.
“These human remains belong here and nowhere else,” he said.
The fifth-largest island in the world, known for its rich biodiversity and natural resources but burdened by high poverty, Madagascar was under French colonial rule from the 19th century until 1960, when it gained full independence.
Macron called for a collaboration between historians from both countries so that “truth, memory, history and reconciliation can see the light of day”.
The proposal is modelled on historian commissions set up with other territories colonised by France, such as Cameroon, Algeria, Senegal and Haiti.
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