On Monday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte formally apologised on behalf of the Netherlands for its role in slave trade, stressing that slavery must be condemned as a crime against humanity in “the clearest terms.”
According to a press release by the Dutch government, Rutte’s apology was directed towards those enslaved in the past anywhere in the world and all those that faced the consequences, including their descendants.
Addressing the National Archive in the Hague, he called the Dutch government’s role in slavery in its seven former South American and Caribbean colonies “ugly, painful, and even downright shameful.”
Rutte recalled that by 1814, the Dutch West India Company had sent over 600,000 African women, children, and men to several countries in the American continent, including Suriname, Curaçao, and St Eustatius. Similarly, the Dutch East India Company traded over 660,000 slaves in Asia.
He called the numbers and the resultant human suffering “unimaginable.” Referring to historical accounts and witness testimonies, he said slave trade had “no limit” to its “arbitrary cruelty.”
The PM remarked that incidents of flogging and torture and said the “business-like and systematic” records of slavery were evidence of the “absurdity of a system” that made one human being treat the other like a commodity.
In addition, he expressed his dismay that when the Dutch government abolished slavery after 250 years in 1863, the enslavers, and not the victims of slavery, were offered financial compensation.
In my speech about the role of the Netherlands in the history of slavery I apologised on behalf of the government for the past actions of the Dutch State.
— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) December 19, 2022
Read the full speech here: https://t.co/mcjkHzCMWr pic.twitter.com/OMtfiP2ulA
Rutte stressed that the horrors of history had gained more attention in recent years through exhibitions, publications, debates, and social awareness programmes. While he celebrated the progress as “appropriate” and “necessary,” he lamented that the “silence has gone on too long.”
On a more personal note, the Dutch PM said that he had previously believed that the government could not “easily take meaningful responsibility” for incidents in the past, particularly considering that the recent generation did not perpetrate the horrors first-hand. However, he recognised the present-day impact of the “centuries of oppression and exploitation,” exemplified by discrimination, exclusion, and social inequality.
Rutte assured that his apology was not an attempt to “wipe the slate clean” or “close the book on the past and is merely a “first step.”
To this end, six Dutch government representatives will meet with organisations and officials in Suriname, Aruba, Curaçao, St Maarten, Bonaire, St Eustatius, and Saba to discuss what the apology means. They will discuss ways to make cultural heritage more visible.
Furthermore, the government announced a $200 million fund dedicated to spreading awareness, enhancing engagement, and addressing the present-day impact of slavery.
Interesting development which looks set to backfire. The Dutch Government has apologized for its role in slavery and set aside 200 million euros for an educational fund. It has ruled out reparations and did not properly consult before the announcement. https://t.co/1b8hdFvjui
— Dr. Kwame McKenzie (@kwame_mckenzie) December 20, 2022
The government will also set up an “independent commemoration committee” to organise a commemoration event on 1 July 2023 alongside former Dutch colonies.
In addition, Amsterdam has outlined a plan to give slave trade and the truth of the country’s colonial past a more “substantial place” in the country’s education system, including by developing museums and archives as well as a national museum.
The government will also streamline the process of changing citizens’ last names if they are linked to slavery.
Rights groups and activists have long called for the government to apologise for slavery. In this respect, following the 2020 killing of George Floyd in the United States, the Dutch government set up an advisory panel that tasked the Slavery History Group with compiling a report on Black rights and structural racism and the continued impact of slavery in the country.
In July 2021, the group released a report titled “Chains of the Past” that demanded an apology from the Dutch government regarding its role in slave trade.
Rutte noted there were three “key words” in the report: acknowledgement, apology, and recovery. In this regard, he said that the first step in starting a conversation about the Dutch government’s role in history must be acknowledging the suffering of victims.
Despite Rutte lauding the apology as a critical move, groups representing slave descendants have denounced the rushed process and lack of consultation, which they argue “showed colonial attitudes still persisted.”
An activist from the Honour and Recovery Foundation, a Dutch Afro-Surinamese organisation, said the government’s failure to consult with victims and former colonies was evidence of the Netherlands’ “neocolonial belch.”
Moreover, campaigners have said the apology should not only come from the government but also the monarchy, namely King Willem-Alexander. In addition, they argue that the king should apologise in Suriname and not the Netherlands.
“In Suriname, where Dutch plantation owners generated huge profits through the use of enslaved labor, activists say they have not been asked for input, and that’s a reflection of a Dutch colonial attitude. What’s really needed, they say, is compensation.”https://t.co/ZHLblLWdrp
— Uncontroversial (@Liberation_Blk) December 19, 2022
They also contend that the apology should have been issued on 1 July 2023, which marked 150 years since the abolition of slavery in Suriname.
In the run-up to Rutte’s speech, six organisations approached a Dutch court to push the apology to next year. The matter was dismissed as a “political matter,” in which the country refused to intervene.
Several former colonies have also echoed these criticisms. For instance, Sint Maarten PM Silveria Jacobs said the former colony would accept the apology once the matter had been discussed by an advisory committee and the entire country. Similarly, the chair of the country’s National Reparations Commission of Suriname, Armand Zunder, said Rutte’s speech lacked “responsibility and accountability.”
In 1863, the Netherlands became one of the last few countries to abolish slavery. Ten years after the practice was outlawed, the Dutch government imposed a transition period in Suriname that mandated former slaves to continue to work for the government for ten years.
The judge ruled that the organisation's case did not meet the requirements of the law because it was based solely on ethical issues, as deeds had been done and the State only considered it moral to do so.
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) December 16, 2022
At the peak of its colonial rule, historians estimate that slave trade accounted for 10% of the gross domestic product of Holland, the richest among the seven provinces of the erstwhile United Provinces of the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, modern Dutch society continues to struggle with racism, with reports of systemic discrimination in its police and foreign ministry. In June this year, Deputy Finance Minister Marnix van Rij also admitted that the Dutch tax office has a problem of institutional racism after it accused tens of thousands of dual nationals of committing child-care benefit fraud.
This comes amid a series of apologies tendered by former colonial powers over the past few years. In fact, in February this year, Rutte issued an apology to Indonesia after a major historical review found that the former colonial power had carried out systematic, excessive, and unethical violence during Indonesia’s 1945-49 war for independence.
In 2018, the Danish government apologised for its colonial past in Ghana. Furthermore, Germany recognised colonial-era crimes committed between 1904 and 1908 against the Herero and Nama tribes in Namibia as genocide and offered a formal apology. However, it has refused to provide reparations for the atrocities.
Others have chosen not to apologise but have instead regretted their countries’ role in the past atrocities. For instance, in June this year, King Philippe of Belgium issued his “deepest regrets” for the country’s actions in Congo. Similarly, British Prince William called slavery an “abhorrent” practice but failed to apologise for the Royal Family’s role in slave trade during his visit to Jamaica in March.
Meanwhile, France clarified in January 2021 that it would issue “no repentance nor apologies” for the abuses committed in Algeria during its 132 years of colonial rule.