Room versus toilet: excuse the past of slavery

For the first time, a majority in the House of Representatives is openly in favor of finding excuses for the Dutch slavery past. MPs who took a trip to Suriname, Curaçao and Bonaire in August give the government in a letter the advice to make those apologies on behalf of the Dutch state.

These are MPs from D66, CDA, PvdA, GroenLinks, SP, ChristenUnie, Volt and BIJ1, who made the trip on the initiative of D66 member Salima Belhaj. Most of them were already known to be in favor of an apology, but it is the first time that even the ruling CDA party has spoken so emphatically. Previously, that party had little sympathy for an official apology.

It is also clear from other parties in the House of Representatives, such as Denk and the Party for the Animals, that they want the cabinet to apologize. But as they were not part of the working visit, they are not covered by the letter to the government.

MPs see an apology for the past of slavery “as an essential beginning of recognition and recovery”. Conversations they had with residents of Suriname, Curaçao and Bonaire showed that apologies are important to them, but that “at the same time they do not ask for an apology, and certainly not to individual Dutch Europeans”.

Today’s generation is not responsible for the events of 150 years ago, they believe, but the Dutch state has played a decisive role in slavery.

If apologies are made, they must above all be sincere, say the interlocutors of the parliamentary delegation. This sincerity must then be demonstrated by a change of action. “In the way we deal with our colonial history in the here and now, with indigenous peoples, slave heirs and other victims of the colonial era, such as contract workers,” the letter reads.

The apology call gets louder and louder. in June the cabinet refrained from such a gesture during the annual commemoration of the abolition of slavery in Keti Koti. Ministers wanted more time to cut the knot and, according to sources, they didn’t like the timing.

Due to the social unrest over rising prices and the nitrogen crisis, people have something else in mind, that was the reasoning at the time.

Prime Minister Rutte said last month during a two-day visit to Suriname that 2023 should be dominated by the recognition of the suffering of slavery. Next year will be 150 years since the abolition of slavery.

According to the parliamentary delegation, “there is a widely shared feeling that the year 2023 can be an important year and that this is seen in Suriname, the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, and in the Netherlands as an opportunity to engage in dialogue and to shut up. Stay with transatlantic slavery and the colonial past. “

Incidentally, various parties deliberately decided not to participate in the working visit to Suriname, Curaçao and Bonaire. Parties like PVV, JA21 and the ruling VVD party have not seen any added value.