In the midst of violent free fall, France has finally taken a small step towards addressing a centuries-old financial rip-off of Haiti through crippling debt.
President Emmanuel Macron of France has announced the creation of a commission to study the impact of a crushing debt France imposed on Haiti exactly 200 years ago.
The debt, which took Haiti 122 years to repay, forced the newly independent nation to compensate French slave owners for their “lost property” – the very humans who had fought for their freedom.
The moment feels calculated.
As Haiti suffers its worst security crisis in decades, with gangs controlling 90 percent of Port-au-Prince, Macron's words acknowledge that the 1825 debt placed "a price on the freedom of a young nation."
Yet his commission falls well short of the financial reparations many Haitians seek.
The panel will make "recommendations" for a "more peaceful future" without any clear commitment to monetary compensation.
This tepid response comes while Haiti endures what Human Rights Watch calls “horrific abuses.”
Over 1,500 people were killed in the first three months of 2025. More than a million Haitians have fled their homes. Half the country faces acute food insecurity.
The French acknowledgment rings hollow against this backdrop of suffering.
Colonial Debt Cast Long Shadow Over Haiti’s Development
What France did to Haiti was robbery on a grand scale.
After losing to the world’s largest slave revolt, France sent warships in 1825 to demand 150 million gold francs – ten times what France had charged the United States for the Louisiana Purchase.
Haiti had no choice but to agree. The fledgling Black republic was isolated diplomatically and economically by white-led nations threatened by its very existence.
To pay this ransom, Haiti took loans with steep interest from French banks.
The payments drained the economy for generations. Resources that could have built schools, hospitals and infrastructure instead went to Paris.
Economist Thomas Piketty estimates France owes Haiti at least $28 billion in today’s money.
As Haitian writer Yvens Rumbold puts it: "Passing more than a hundred years taxing a peasant population, paying former colonists and bankers certainly contributed to the underdevelopment of Haiti."
The debt was not paid off until 1947. By then, the damage was done.
American Occupation Added New Layer of Trauma
While France bled Haiti financially, the United States added military intervention to the mix.
The U.S. occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934, ruling with a heavy hand and race-based attitudes.
Even after the official occupation ended, Washington controlled Haiti’s finances until 1947, taking about 40% of national income to service debts to both the U.S. and France.
American interventions in Haitian politics continued into recent years. When Haiti’s president was assassinated in 2021, the U.S. backed his unelected replacement despite evidence linking him to the killing.
As Daniel Foote, former U.S. special envoy to Haiti, wrote in his resignation letter: "This cycle of international political interventions in Haiti has consistently produced catastrophic results."
Haiti’s Colonial Origin Story
The bitter irony is that Haiti began as a symbol of freedom.
The country was born in 1804 after enslaved people rose up against their French oppressors and won against all odds.
Haiti became the world’s first Black republic and the first country to permanently ban slavery. This threatened the world order of the time, when slavery remained highly profitable.
The young republic paid dearly for this.
Thomas Jefferson, who wrote that "all men are created equal," worked to isolate Haiti diplomatically and economically.
The U.S. did not recognise Haiti until 1862, as American slavery was coming to an end.
Haiti’s mortal sin was showing enslaved people everywhere that freedom was possible. For this, colonial powers made the country an example of what happens when the established order is challenged.
Colonial Powers Must Face Their Responsibility
France’s belated recognition of its historical crime falls short of what justice demands.
"Like a fish out of water," Haiti has struggled for stability while colonial powers feigned innocence about their role in its troubles.
The French commission should be just the beginning. True justice would see France returning the billions extorted from Haiti.
Rumbold argues this moment could write a new chapter of sincerity in French-Haitian relations: "Defending sincerity between nations means betting on ethical diplomacy, based on keeping one's word and mutual trust."
While Haiti’s current crisis has many causes, including internal corruption and mismanagement, its roots lie in the punishment inflicted on it for daring to be free.
The “double debt” of colonialism and intervention left Haiti perpetually vulnerable.
As gangs now control most of Port-au-Prince and children flee violence in record numbers, France’s academic commission seems woefully inadequate.
Haiti needs more than promised.
Port-au-Prince needs resources to rebuild security, infrastructure, and governance – resources that France helped strip away over generations.
Any honest accounting of Haiti’s troubles must put colonial exploitation front and centre.
France’s acknowledgment is overdue but incomplete, a small step when a giant leap is needed.
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