New Delhi,Updated: Aug 28, 2023 09:31 (IST)
British MPs shine a light on alleged theft at British Museum, exposing “disgraceful absurdity” in the museum’s refusal to repatriate disputed items on security grounds said the Guardian newspaper.
Labor MP Bel Ribeiro Addi from Streatham said a 1963 law banning the return of relics such as the Parthenon marbles and Benin bronzes should be overhauled.
“One of the most insulting reasons they gave is that other countries to which these items belong cannot carry them or they are likely to be stolen. But people in this country We sell it on eBay,” said Ribeiro Addi, who is also chairman of the all-party delegation on reparations for Africa.
“What’s even worse is that they’ve been very lenient on allegations of theft of other people’s things, and didn’t even try to assess the need to know exactly what was stolen,” she said. added. .
The lawmakers’ comments came after the museum announced last week that it had recovered some of the 2,000 stolen items, including jewelry and gemstones. The police were investigating the matter.
On August 25, the museum’s director, Hartwig Fischer, offered to resign, saying he accepted responsibility for failing to promptly respond to warnings of suspected theft of artifacts in 2021. The museum’s deputy curator, Jonathan Williams, will not perform his duties until an independent inquiry into the matter is completed.
Fisher will continue to serve until an interim director is appointed, which will reportedly be announced by the end of the week. A spokeswoman for the British Museum said the process was proceeding without further delay.
Former Conservative Prime Minister George Osborne, chairman of the museum’s board of trustees, said the museum’s recovery of some of the stolen items was “a silver lining in the dark clouds”.
“This has certainly damaged the reputation of the British Museum. I think it’s kind of justified. That’s why I apologize on behalf of the museum. We’ve been there for a long time.” I believe I’ve been the victim of thieves over the years, and frankly, more could have been done to prevent them,” he said.
The revelations of stolen artifacts have given new impetus to some calls for the items to be returned to their countries of origin.
“We partner with museums and communities around the world, lending over 4,000 items each year. We are dedicated to making our collections accessible to as many people as possible. We are,” a spokesperson for the British Museum reported to The Guardian.
“We take control of all the items in our collection very seriously and thankfully incidents of this kind are incredibly rare. We have initiated an independent review to make further recommendations to ensure that this does not happen again,” the spokesperson said.