UK lawmakers and campaigners are pushing for a ban on the display and sale of human remains in museums and auction houses. A report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Afrikan-Reparations highlights the distress caused to diaspora communities by British institutions holding ancestral remains, many taken during colonial rule.

The Human Tissue Act 2004 currently regulates remains under 100 years old, but campaigners urge expanding the law. Recommendations include banning sales, updating museum guidelines, and ensuring representation of diaspora communities in decision-making.

The Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford removed human remains from display in 2020 as part of a decolonization effort. Meanwhile, the British Museum, which holds over 6,000 remains, faces criticism for retaining Māori tattooed heads and Torres Strait skulls.

During a parliamentary debate, lawmakers condemned the historical trade of mummies and human remains, calling it an “abomination.” Recent controversies, including an Oxfordshire auction house withdrawing human remains from sale and the Smithsonian’s apology for its collection, emphasize the ongoing global debate over ethical treatment and repatriation of ancestral remains.