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ANNOUNCEMENTS•
The Cabinet still intends to apologize for past slavery next Monday, December 19th. The conversation Deputy Prime Minister Kaag had this afternoon with various stakeholder organizations did not change that, sources in The Hague say.
Many people present at the meeting at the Catshuis also said afterwards that the cabinet would continue with its intentions for the time being. They are disappointed because they consider it a hasty decision that did not involve the descendants of slaves.
They think July 1 next year is the only correct date. So it will be 150 years ago that slavery actually ended in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. “It’s a holy day. You’re not moving May 4 and 5 to August, are you?” said Hannah Belliot, a former city councilor in Amsterdam.
He filed a lawsuit on behalf of a number of organizations to prevent an apology from coming on Dec. 19. After the conversation at the Catshuis, he said the lawsuit would continue next Thursday.
“Why such a rush all of a sudden?”
Radio producer Glenn Codfried later said he still had little faith in the way the Dutch government wants to apologize. “We had to wait 160 years for this. Why such a hurry now?”
According to Codfried, the government mainly wants to stick to the December 19 date because if it waits longer, support for making excuses among the Dutch population may have disappeared. He thinks it’s a nonsensical argument: “We are not driven by fear.”
Kaag: valuable conversations
Deputy Prime Minister Kaag called today’s talks “very intense and valuable”. According to her, they concerned, among other things, the place of slavery in education and the fight against racism in the present and in the future. You replaced Prime Minister Rutte, who already conducted a similar session at the Catshuis on Thursday, but was unable to attend today.
On or about Dec. 19, Kaag only said Prime Minister Rutte would respond on behalf of the cabinet to the report by the Slavery Past Dialogue group. He advised the government to apologise. Like Rutte, Kaag said it will be a “significant moment”. “Hopefully it’s welcomed and seen that way.”
Thursday in Paramaribo
When asked whether Rutte will actually apologize, Kaag did not answer. He clarified what exactly happens on December 19th. The final decision on the matter will be taken on Friday in the Council of Ministers.
Kaag himself will travel to Paramaribo on Thursday to discuss the proposed apology with the government and organizations of Suriname. That visit had been scheduled at the last minute, according to insiders in an effort to iron out kinks.
