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.
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.
Millions of enslaved Africans were dispatched from the shores of West Africa, including from Benin’s beaches.
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.
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.
The move has already aroused great interest among people of African descent, according to our correspondent – 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.
Voices from former French colonies reflect on painful slave trade legacy
French support
The idea received early support from prominent French citizens with origins in the West Indies, including Mère Jah, a pioneer of Pan-Africanism from Guadeloupe, who had moved to Benin, and passed away in May this year.
French academic Louis-Georges Tin, leader of campaign group State of the African Diaspora (SOAD), and Martinique-born lawyer Maître Germany met with Benin’s minister of justice in recent years and pleaded the case for nationality for those whose ancestors were deported at the time of colonial slavery.
How Black History month has slowly made its way to France
Benin is the first country to make such a move, with the leader of the opposition, Eric Houndété, calling it "a totally unprecedented initiative".
SOAD, which represents the interests of Afro-descendants, also welcomed the development, with Tin writing in a statement: "We are very pleased with this result, and we will be proposing to the other African countries with which we have diplomatic relations [that they] draw inspiration from this magnificent example."
'Benin embraces us'
Lilith Dorsey, an American citizen living in New Orleans says the move by the Benin government "is extraordinary and will bring us closer to our brothers here."
Dorsey, an author, dancer and filmmaker, said Benin "feels closer to her homeland". She now plans to take advantage of the country's new law to move there.
Nathan Debos, president of New Orleans National Vodou Day – which commemorates the victims of the slave trade – also says he feels more comfortable in West Africa than in the US and intends to take Beninese citizenship. "We have too many problems with racism and it is difficult for us to feel at home," he said.
Debos is planning to make a pilgrimage to Benin in January to attend a festival of Voodoo in Ouidah, a beach town surrounded by memorials to the slave trade, he told French news agency AFP. "[I am] delighted that Benin extends its hand warmly to us and embraces us."
'Dahomey' film invites colonial past to speak through Benin's stolen treasures
Freedom of movement
Applicants for Beninese nationality under the new law must meet the following criteria: "Be 18 years of age or older, provide proof of his Afro descent by authenticated testimonies, civil status document or DNA test carried out in a laboratory approved by Benin." The applicant's father or mother must also have been born before 1944.
The applicants must travel to Benin to complete the final steps of the process, and stay in the country until nationality is granted. If they are successful, they will be issued a provisional certificate of nationality valid for three years.
Once they've obtained nationality, they will have freedom of entry, stay and exit and the right to a passport. These "new Beninese citizens" will not be able to vote, however, nor work in the country's public administration.
