Germany Pays Namibia €1Billion Over Genocide During Colonial Rule

<p><em>Germany Pays Namibia<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> has gathered that Germany&comma; for the first time&comma; on Friday&comma; recognised it had committed genocide in Namibia during its colonial occupation&comma; with Berlin promising financial support worth more than one billion euros to aid projects in the African nation&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Euro is the official currency of 19 of the 27 member states of the European Union&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We will now officially refer to these events as what they are from today’s perspective&colon; genocide&comma;” said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in a statement&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;He hailed the agreement after more than five years of negotiations with Namibia over events in the territory held by Berlin from 1884 to 1915&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;German settlers killed tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people in 1904-1908 massacres&comma; which historians have called the first genocide of the 20th century&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;In light of the historical and moral responsibility of Germany&comma; we will ask forgiveness from Namibia and the victims’ descendants” for the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;atrocities” committed&comma; Maas said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;gesture to recognise the immense suffering inflicted on the victims”&comma; Berlin will support the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;reconstruction and the development” of Namibia via a financial programme of 1&period;1 billion euros &lpar;&dollar;1&period;34 billion&rpar;&comma; he said&comma; but specified it was not compensation on a legal basis&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The sum will be paid over 30 years&comma; according to sources close to the negotiations&comma; and must primarily benefit the descendants of the Hereo and Nama peoples&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The atrocities committed during colonisation have poisoned relations between the two nations for years&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Deprived of their livestock and land&comma; the<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;thisdaylive&period;com&sol;"> Hereo<&sol;a> revolted in 1904&comma; killing around a hundred colonisers&period; A year later&comma; the Nama would also rebel&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;German General Lothar von Trotha — sent to put down the uprisings — ordered the peoples’ extermination&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;At least 60&comma;000 Hereos and around 10&comma;000 Namas were killed between 1904 and 1908&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Colonial soldiers carried out mass executions&semi; exiled men&comma; women&comma; and children to the desert where thousands died of thirst&semi; and established infamous concentration camps&comma; such as the one on Shark Island&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Namibia&comma; a country in southwest Africa&comma; is distinguished by the Namib Desert along its Atlantic Ocean coast&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The country&comma; with an estimated 2019 2&period;495 million population&comma; is home to diverse wildlife&comma; including a significant cheetah population&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The capital&comma; Windhoek&comma; and coastal town Swakopmund contain German colonial-era buildings such as Windhoek&&num;8217&semi;s Christuskirche&comma; built in 1907&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In the north&comma; Etosha National Park’s salt pan draws game including rhinos and giraffes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;