Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologized on behalf of the state on Monday for the country’s role in the history of slavery. “The Dutch state and its representatives have enabled, encouraged and benefited from slavery for centuries,” Rutte said in a televised speech on Monday. The form and date of the speech were disputed to the end. Fierce debates also arose about whether Rutte was the right person to deliver this historic speech.
The run-up to Rutte’s apology was tough. Although the government expressed its regret in 2001 and 2013, descendants of slaves and residents of former colonies tried in vain to apologize to the former third-largest colonial power in the world. A committee set up by the government subsequently stated in July that the Netherlands should apologize and actively work to combat the consequences, such as racism. Next year, the country will commemorate the end of slavery. Rutte’s apology plan was unintentionally made public at the beginning. For weeks there was pushing what it could be about – and some were dissatisfied in advance.
Demand an apology from the king
Surinamese associations urgently wanted to ensure that the apologies were not made on a random date, but on July 1 next year, 160 years after the official abolition of slavery by the Netherlands. A court dismissed the lawsuit Thursday. The fact that a Dutch minister, who is himself a descendant of slaves, is going to speak with Franc Weerwind in Suriname on Monday, caused quite a stir. A Surinamese representative demanded that “a white person” apologize. Rutte still lets Weerwind talk – but sent Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag to Suriname in advance to soften the waves there. There was also a demand that King Willem-Alexander apologize.
Incidentally, in addition to apologies, the committee also recommended reparations. Rutte ruled this out in advance. The Netherlands would set up an education fund worth 200 million euros. Historians believe that Dutch slave traders transported more than half a million Africans to the Americas, particularly Brazil and the Caribbean.
Prime Minister Rutte does not think the fierce debates are so bad. Last week’s debate had already generated “a wealth of responses” and the intensity of discussions about slavery had increased, he said ahead of his speech at the National Archives in The Hague.
Source: Krone
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