In Benin, the government has voted through a law offering nationality to “people with an African ancestor deported as part of the slave trade”, with applications due to open in December.<\/p>\n
By: Melissa Chemam with RFI<\/p>\n
When introducing the bill to parliament last May, the Beninese government stated that the slave trade had “left deep wounds on Africa and the descendants of the deported people” and that it wished to to help reconnect these descendants with their origins.<\/p>\n
Millions of enslaved Africans were dispatched from the shores of West Africa, including from Benin\u2019s beaches.<\/p>\n
Following the adoption of a law on 30 July paving the way for recognition of Beninese nationality for Afro-descendants, the government published the terms of the decree on 20 November.<\/p>\n
According to RFI’s correspondent in Cotonou, Jean-Luc Aplogan, applications are to be submitted online, with a site under construction and due to be accessible from the start of December.<\/p>\n
The move has already aroused great interest among people of African descent, according to our correspondent \u2013 particularly among Afro-descendants born in Haiti, Brazil and the Caribbean. People from those countries have become frequent visitors to Benin, notably since the country’s President Patrice Talon made memorials to the slave trade a central tenet of tourism on the country.<\/p>\n