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Written question asked by Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour) on Friday, 21 November 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 26 November 2025 (named day). It was answered by Ian Murray (Labour) on Monday, 1 December 2025 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Human Remains: Africa

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to take steps with museums and other institutions to repatriate African ancestral remains to their countries of origin.

Answer

Museums are independent of the government and so decisions related to their collections are for their trustees to make. However, DCMS has previously issued Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums which encouraged museums to establish an advisory framework to assist in determining repatriation claims and provided a set of criteria which need to be taken into account in assessing claims. Museums publish their own policies under this guidance. We are considering how best to update the guidance, which is now 20 years old.

A number of museums, working in close partnership with the communities or countries of origin, have returned human remains to communities or countries in Africa, including the National Army Museum returning locks of hair of Emperor Tewodros II to Ethiopia, and Glasgow University’s Hunterian Museum recently returning ancestral remains of six people to South Africa.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
93436
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Cultural heritage Africa Human remains Indigenous peoples Restitution
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk