Macron seeks ‘forgiveness’ for colonialism on Madagascar visit

France’s President Emmanuel Macron speaks at Father Pedro’s Akamasoa association in Antananarivo on April 24, 2025. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
| Photo Credit: LUDOVIC MARIN

President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday (April 24, 2025) during a visit to Madagascar he wanted to work toward “forgiveness” for France’s colonisation of the Indian Ocean island, including with the return of cultural artifacts.

“Our presence here is not innocent, and our history has been written… with deeply painful pages,” Mr. Macron said during a remembrance ceremony at the former royal palace in the capital, Antananarivo.

“Only you can make this journey of forgiveness,” he said after a visit of the palace with Princess Fenosoa Ralandison Ratsimamanga.

“But we are creating the conditions for it, by making it possible… to mourn what is no longer.”

Mr. Macron highlighted the planned return of various cultural items taken from the island by its French occupiers, including the skull of a king decapitated in 1897 by French troops and taken to France as a trophy.

“These human remains belong here and nowhere else,” he said.

The fifth-largest island in the world, known for its rich biodiversity and natural resources but burdened by high poverty, Madagascar was under French colonial rule from the 19th century until 1960, when it gained full independence.

Mr. Macron called for a collaboration between historians from both countries so that “truth, memory, history and reconciliation can see the light of day”.

The proposal is modelled on historian commissions set up with other territories colonised by France, such as Cameroon, Algeria, Senegal and Haiti.