Prime Minister Mark Rutte has apologized on behalf of the government for a history of slavery. He did so during a speech from the National Archives in The Hague.
The apology is “for the actions of the Dutch state in the past,” said the prime minister, who apologized in Dutch, English, Sranan Tongo and Papiamento. “Posthumously to all the slaves who suffered from that practice around the world. To their daughters and sons and all their descendants here and now.’
The government does not apologize ‘to make a clean slate’, or to close the past. “We are doing it and we are doing it now to find the way forward together on the threshold of an important commemorative year”, said the premier. An apology is a “comma, not a period,” he insists.
“Rutte is actually calling for a new dialogue,” says political journalist Sophie van Leeuwen, who was present at the meeting. “Rutte calls slavery, this Dutch past, a crime against humanity.”
Rutte also said during his speech that he had undergone a “personal development”. “I always thought slavery was a thing of the past, but it’s not behind us.” Remarkable, according to Van Leeuwen. “Rutte studied history, he discovered that history has an effect on the present.”
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‘Disgust’
Dutch history has “many pages” that today fill us with “bewilderment, horror and deep shame,” Rutte acknowledges. An apology doesn’t delete those pages, “nor should they.” An apology must ensure dialogue and healing “throughout the realm”.
An important point of the speech is also the rehabilitation of all people who resisted slavery. Rutte mentioned by name Tula, the leader of the slave revolt in Curaçao. The prime minister also paid attention to “all the unnamed men and women who throughout the ages have heroically sought freedom and have often been punished for it in the most horrific ways”.
Run-up could be “better”
Rutte also said the ride to date could have been better. But, she said, ‘don’t let that be a reason to do nothing. Such a difficult conversation begins with recognition.’ The apology plans were leaked last month, sparking outrage from various interest groups. They felt, among other things, that the chosen date of 19 December had too little symbolic meaning and argued that an apology should come on 1 July. Then it will be exactly 150 years ago that slavery will end.
Rutte seemed moved during the speech, says Van Leeuwen. “He has made some progress too. He was also recently in Suriname and had bitter discussions in the Council of Ministers with, for example, Minister Franc Weerwind, who is in Suriname today to speak with local representatives ». Emotions are easy to explain, thinks Van Leeuwen. ‘It’s also a historic moment, despite all the criticism you can get. An apology has finally been made, on behalf of the Dutch state.’
The Prime Minister was specifically talking about 600,000 people being shipped from Africa, and perhaps a million people being shipped from Asia to plantations with the VOC. “These crimes against humanity have finally been recognized, almost 150 years after they were abolished.”
No compensation
Despite the apology, there’s no bag of cash ready for the repairs, Van Leeuwen notes. “This is not the wish of Mark Rutte and this cabinet. There will be a fund worth two hundred million euros, intended to raise awareness and attention in education about slavery. There will also be a slavery museum in Amsterdam. There will also be a commemoration committee investigating how to give a bigger role to the day of slavery’s past, Van Leeuwen says.
It is not yet clear whether King Willem-Alexander will also apologize for the past of slavery. “Next year the king will be present at the commemoration of slavery on July 1st. We don’t know yet if there will be an apology, but it is true that there will be an investigation into the role of the royal family in the past of slavery.’
Silence in Suriname
At the meeting at Paramaribo’s Torarica hotel, where Minister Franc Weerwind met a number of Surinamese guests, no applause or other sign of approval was heard as Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologized for slavery. During the speech, which guests at Torarica followed online, there was complete silence for most of the time.
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Aruba accepts Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s apology on Monday for Dutch slavery record. “A sincere apology is always welcome,” Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes said. She said she was “thankful to the Netherlands for the first step” and repeated what Rutte also said: “today it shouldn’t be a full stop, but a comma”.
Wever-Croes called the apology “a turning point in the kingdom’s history”. We now have the opportunity to work collectively and as equal countries for a better future.’ According to the prime minister, the apology means that “enslaved Arubans are retroactively recognized as people who had a right to be free.” They had the right to freedom and self-determination and that was taken away from them. They are recognized as victims of crimes against humanity. He believes that “slavery should not be a source of shame, but a source of pride and strength”. Our ancestors deserve to be recognized.”
The mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema calls Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s apology for past slavery a “fine moment”. The mayor also calls the apology “impressive and sincere.” “I thought he rightly took the time to explain a lot about how criminal the system has been,” said Halsema, who was at the speech on behalf of the four major cities as mayor.
Halsema already apologized last year for the role Amsterdam played in slavery’s past. There will also be a national slavery museum in the capital.
The Netherlands ‘for too long failed to appreciate the indescribable suffering that slavery and the slave trade have caused’, says minister Karen van Gennip (Social Affairs) during a speech on Bonaire. He is there to apologize on behalf of the government for the Dutch state’s role in the slave trade. Prime Minister Mark Rutte did so shortly before her in a speech to the national archives in The Hague.
Van Gennip speaks of “shameful pages in our national history” where people have been used as commodities. “The aftermath of that continues today.”
The minister made his apology from an old king’s warehouse in Rincón. There the slaves received their rations for the rest of the week, after which they had to work in the island’s salt pans.
Activist Jeffrey Africa (The Netherlands Becomes Better) talks about a historic day after Prime Minister Mark Rutte offered an apology on behalf of the government for the Dutch slavery past. “Beautiful and right words were said, especially if we look at the run-up in which we saw that people weren’t understood”.
While he sees an apology as a nice step, he doesn’t expect people to get over the past now. ‘You can only override something if you see improvements. But it is important that we now treat each other with a different attitude and that we unite and look to the future.’
Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s apology means that a new phase is unfolding in relations between the Netherlands and Curaçao. This is what the Prime Minister of Curaçao said Gilmar ‘Pick’ Pisa after Rutte’s speech on the past of slavery.
Pisas has not yet wanted to give a substantial response to Rutte’s apology. He wants parliament to react before the government takes a stand.
Pisas stressed the importance of Curaçao’s right to self-determination and thanked Tula, the leader of a slave revolt in 1795, for his fight.
Rabin Baldewsingh, National Coordinator Against Racism and Discrimination (NCRD), is thrilled by Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s speech on the past of slavery. Baldewsingh is very pleased with the apology Rutte has made for the state’s role in this. That gesture helps in the fight against racism, he expects. The anti-racist coordinator would find it “highly desirable that an apology be enshrined in law, so that no one would ever think of revoking it.”
An moved Baldewsingh says Rutte touched him “to his heart” and showed leadership. ‘History stands and has been made visible. Stop it,” he says. The government can do that by embedding apologies in the law. For now, this is not in the cabinet’s plans, but the NCRD is convinced Rutte will address it. “He will, I strongly believe in it.”
Several parties in the House of Representatives are rightly demanding an apology from Prime Minister Mark Rutte on behalf of the government. “A historic moment,” says the president of the D66 party, Jan Paternotte. “And at the same time, this is just the beginning.” VVD member Pim van Strien speaks of “a respectful speech by the Prime Minister on the pain inflicted on enslaved people by those in power at the time”.
Not everyone is positive about the government’s gesture. “I apologize for Prime Minister Rutte’s apology,” PVV leader Geert Wilders said on Twitter. The PS calls excuses justified. “The PS hopes that the commemoration year will be a starting point for learning about and commemorating this horrifying story together.”
Source: BNR
Fernando Dowling is an author and political journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of the political landscape and a passion for analyzing the latest political trends and news.
