ANTANANARIVO, April 24, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - President Emmanuel Macron said 
Thursday 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," 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."

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.

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.