THE HAGUE, KOMPAS.com – Prime Minister of the Netherlands Marco Rutte On Monday (12/19/2022) he officially apologized for his country’s involvement in 250 years of slavery. He called it a crime against humanity.
This apology comes nearly 150 years after slavery ended in Dutch overseas colonies, including Suriname in South America, Indonesia in the east, and Caribbean islands like Curacao and Aruba.
Aruba is the former Dutch colony that first reacted to Rutte’s apology. Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes accepted the request, but other countries such as the island of Sint Maarten said they would not accept it.
Read also: The Netherlands officially apologizes for 250 years of slavery in South America and the Caribbean
“Today on behalf of the government of the Netherlands, I apologize for the actions of the Dutch state in the past,” Rutte said in his speech, quoted by the news agency AFP extension.
He repeated his apology in English, Papiamento (a Caribbean language), and Sranan Tongo (Surinamese).
“The Dutch state… is responsible for the immense suffering that befell enslaved people and their descendants,” Rutte continued to an audience at the National Archives building, The Hague.
“We, living in the here and now, can only recognize and condemn slavery in the clearest terms as a crime against humanity,” he added.
However, after the speech, Surinamese representatives complained about the lack of concrete action by the government of the “Country of Windmills”.
“I don’t see much of what the Dutch are doing and it’s shameful,” said Iwan Wijngaarde, head of the Afro-Surinamese federation. AFP extension.
“What is really missing from this speech is accountability and accountability,” said Armand Zunder, chairman of Suriname’s national reparations commission. AFP extension.
Read also: UN: 50 million people trapped in modern day slavery, what does that mean?
A number of Dutch ministers have visited seven former colonies in South America and the Caribbean in the context of this apology.
Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag said during an official visit to Suriname last week that a process towards another important moment will begin on July 1 next year.
Descendants Dutch slavery in 2023, he will celebrate 150 years of liberation from slavery in an annual celebration called “Keti Koti” (Breaking the Chains) in Suriname.
However, the plan generated controversy as interested groups and some countries criticized it for acting hastily and considered the lack of consultation from the Dutch to indicate a still colonial attitude.
There are also those who ask for damages.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in his speech on Monday (12/19/2022) said that choosing the right moment is a complicated matter.
“There is no right time for everyone, no right word for everyone, no right place for everyone,” said the 55-year-old man.
Read also: The controversy surrounding De Oost, a Dutch film that dares to expose Westerling’s atrocities
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