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ANNOUNCEMENTS••Edited
As expected, Prime Minister Rutte apologized for the past slavery on behalf of the Dutch state. In a speech at the National Archives in The Hague, Rutte said that the Dutch government has allowed, encouraged, maintained and benefited from slavery for centuries.
“For centuries people have been commodified, exploited and abused in the name of the Dutch state. For centuries human dignity has been trampled on in the most horrific way under the authority of the Dutch state. And too few successive Dutch governments after 1863 have seen and recognized that the past of slavery had and has a negative impact. For this I apologize on behalf of the Dutch government.”
He then spoke that sentence in English, Sranantongo and Papiamento, the languages spoken in Suriname and the Caribbean part of the kingdom.
See how Rutte apologized here:
Rutte apologizes for past slavery
The government is apologizing to a large group of people. Rutte: “Posthumously to all enslaved people around the world who suffered for that act. To their daughters and sons and all their descendants here and now.”
“We are not doing this to clean up our house,” the prime minister said, indicating that there will be other moments in the near future where slavery’s past will be talked about. “We are doing it, and we are doing it now, on the threshold of an important anniversary, to find the way forward together. We share not only the past, but also the future. So today we put a comma, not a full stop”.
Together with organizations from the Netherlands, Suriname and the Caribbean islands, the government wants to work on greater knowledge of the past of slavery and on greater awareness, recognition and understanding.
“This process takes time and we can only work together. On the way to the important symbolic date of July 1, 2023. So, throughout the commemoration year and in subsequent years,” said the prime minister.
As far as Rutte is concerned, slavery must be recognized as a crime against humanity. “Millions of people have suffered. Suffering that is still having an effect. Holland has to face her part in this. The numbers are unimaginable, the suffering even more unimaginable.”
Dutch East Indies
Rutte did not explicitly apologize for the slave trade that took place in the former Dutch East Indies, but he did refer to it several times. For example, he spoke of the 660,000-1 million people trafficked into Asia under the responsibility of the Dutch East India Company (VOC).
He also recalled the year 1860 when slavery was abolished in the Dutch East Indies. To date, some researchers have said yes surprised was that the apology is mainly aimed at Suriname and the Caribbean islands and that the same practices are ignored in the East.
According to the prime minister, King Willem-Alexander also feels personally very involved in the matter. He will be present at the Keti Koti commemoration on July 1 next year, when exactly 150 years ago slavery effectively ended. It is unclear whether the king will apologize there again, as many descendants of slaves would like.
Rutte referred to the book We slaves of Suriname by Anton de Kom. According to him, this shows that there was “no limit to cruelty and arbitrariness” during slavery. “There were floggings, torture resulting in death, cutting off limbs and branding in the face.”
‘I was wrong’
The prime minister says he has seen a shift in his thinking in recent years. “I thought: Slavery is a story far away from us. I was wrong. Because centuries of oppression and exploitation affect the here and now. In racist stereotypes, in discriminatory patterns of exclusion, in social inequality. And to break through this, we must also face the past openly and honestly”.
During his visit to Suriname earlier this year, he also saw how slavery continues to function there in the present, “even spiritually.”
Rutte acknowledged the ride to date could have been better. There was a lot of criticism after it was leaked that December 19 would be the day for the government to apologize. Descendant organizations felt attacked and chose July 1, 2023 as an apology day.
“We know there is no right time for everyone, no right word for everyone, no right place for everyone. But don’t let that be a reason for doing nothing. We must move forward together. We must move forward together. go on.”
