Germany confesses on colonial-era genocide in Namibia

Survivors were driven into the desert, where many ended up in concentration camps to be used as slave labor and many died from cold, malnutrition, and exhaustion, Aljazeera reported.

“We will now officially refer to these events as what they are from today’s perspective: genocide,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement on Friday.

“In light of the historical and moral responsibility of Germany, we will ask forgiveness from Namibia and the victims’ descendants for the atrocities committed,” he said.

The news was welcomed by Namibia. “The acceptance on the part of Germany that a genocide was committed is the first step in the right direction,” the country’s President Hage Geingob’s spokesman Alfredo Hengari told the AFP news agency.

“It is the basis for the second step, which is an apology, to be followed by reparations,” he said.

RHM/PR