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https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/aug/27/thefts-expose-british-museums-ridiculous-stance-on-return-of-artefacts-says-mp>
"An MP has said suspected thefts at the British Museum have exposed the
“insulting ridiculousness” of its refusal to return contested artefacts to
their country of origin on security grounds.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Afrikan
reparations, believes the 1963 law preventing the return of objects such as the
Parthenon marbles and the Benin bronzes should be changed.
“One of the most insulting reasons that they’ve given is that the other
countries that these items belong to would either not be able to take care of
them or they are likely to be stolen,” she said. “But you’ve got people in this
country putting them on eBay.”
The museum has been at the centre of an escalating storm that on Friday led to
the resignation of its director, Hartwig Fischer. It followed the revelation
that as many as 2,000 items from the museum collection had been found to be
“missing, stolen or damaged” and that police were investigating.
Fischer said he accepted responsibility for the museum’s failure to properly
respond to warnings in 2021 about the suspected thefts of objects. The museum’s
deputy director, Jonathan Williams, has stepped back from his normal duties
until an independent review into the suspected thefts has concluded."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
