Dutch PM Rutte issues official apology for Netherlands’ role in slavery

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte issued an official apology on Monday for Netherlands' historical involvement in slavery for 250 years, as he said that it was a crime committed against humanity and acknowledged the continued consequences of slavery in the present day.

In his nationally broadcasted speech, Rutte said, “Today I apologise. For centuries the Dutch state and its representatives have enabled and stimulated slavery and have profited from it.”

"It is true that nobody alive today bears any personal guilt for slavery...(however) the Dutch state bears responsibility for the immense suffering that has been done to those that were enslaved and their descendants,” he added.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

ALSO READ| Foreign ministry of the Netherlands issues apology for 'institutional racism'

Rutte made the official apology amid growing reconsideration of the Netherlands’ colonial past, which includes steps taken to return the looted wealth and the current struggle of the country with racism.

The prime minister’s apology in The Hague faced resistance from groups who argued that King Willem-Alexander should have issued an apology on July 1, 2023, in former colony Suriname to mark Dutch abolition’s 160th anniversary. Dutch Afro-Surinamese organisation Honour and Recovery Foundation’s Roy Kaikusi Groenberg said, "It takes two to tango - apologies have to be received.”

He added that it was wrong to not sufficiently consult activists who have worked for years to change the wave of discussion in the country. "The way the government is handling this, it's coming across as a neo-colonial belch," Groenberg said.

PM Rutte accepted that the announcement was clumsily handled and added that representatives are being sent by the Dutch government to Suriname along with the Caribbean islands that are part of the Netherlands with different degrees of autonomy - Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, Curacao, Saba, Aruba and Bonaire.

WATCH| Netherlands takes stance on China export; Dutch Minister says 'Will not adopt US approach'

Sint Maarten’s Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said that no apology would be accepted by them without any discussion. Rutte issued the apology in his response to a national advisory panel which was established after the 2020 killing of George Floyd in the US.

The panel stated that the participation of the Dutch in slavery led to crimes against humanity and gave a recommendation for an apology as well as reparations in 2021. Rutte said that the panel’s conclusions are embraced by the government, including that slavery was a crime against humanity.

(With inputs from agencies)