Another important request of the committee is that the descendants of enslaved people also be compensated for the treatment suffered by their ancestors. According to the committee, this claim for compensation is logical “because forced labor and the inhumane treatment of slaves have led to the great structural wealth of the Netherlands,” the memorandum states.
Criticism of the date and of the speakers
The Netherlands plans to apologize for its past slavery in different places around the world on December 19. After this intention was leaked, a public discussion broke out about the conditions under which this occurred. Some advocacy groups say the apology should be issued on July 1, when slavery was abolished 160 years ago.
There was also discussion about who makes the apologies. Some groups believe King Willem-Alexander should do this, not Prime Minister Rutte. There is also criticism that Minister Franc Weerwind was chosen to issue an apology in Suriname, because Weerwind himself is descended from enslaved Surinamese people.
Last week, some interest groups conspired a summary judgment delay apologies.
Meeting at Catshuis
Last Thursday a group of stakeholders was invited to the Catshuis to discuss the issue. Also present at the Catshuis meeting were representatives from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as well as organizations and people involved in the past of slavery. There will be another consultation at the Catshuis on Tuesday.
We asked Franc Weerwind himself for his take on the critique:
Go to Suriname
The Dutch government has now announced that Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag will visit Suriname next week. There he will speak to government and civil society organizations about slavery’s past, ahead of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s speech on the subject on 19 December.
Johan Roozer, chairman of the National Commemoration of Slavery Commemoration and Research into the Consequences of the Slavery Past, thinks it is a good thing that Minister Kaag is traveling to Suriname: it is the first time that a formal apology and reparation has been discussed in Suriname. Roozer had previously expressed strong criticism of Franc Weerwind’s choice to apologize in Suriname. “He is a descendant himself, he too needs ‘repairs.'”
We previously made this video about what an apology means for descendants of enslaved people:
