Foreign ministry of the Netherlands issues apology for 'institutional racism'

The Dutch foreign ministry issued an apology on Monday after a study claimed that institutional racism was widespread and that persons of ethnic backgrounds were repeatedly alluded to as "monkeys" and other derogatory terms.Employees of colour frequently felt cold-shouldered and neglected by white colleagues at the ministry, according to the independent research, which was commissioned in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement.

They "were not often subjected to physical assault," according to the report, but they frequently endured "verbal hostility" when they overheard others disparaging others based on their skin colour, religion, or country of origin.

"A number of employees have said that people have been referred to as 'monkeys', 'bokitos', 'negroes' and 'Black Pete' because of their skin colour," the report said.

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"African countries have been described by one employee as 'monkey countries.'"

In the Netherlands and Belgium, Black Pete, also known as Zwarte Piet, is a blackface holiday figure that usually goes with Saint Nicholas, whereas Bokito was a gorilla that escaped from the Rotterdam Zoo in 2007 and went on the rampage.

The report was "painful and combative," according to Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra.

It was observed that many of those surveyed felt "ignored and passed over," with embassy workers who were employed locally in particular feeling left out.

According to the study, the findings had "posed the query of whether institutional racism exists. This is the conclusion that we reach."

Although the Netherlands has long cultivated an image of itself as a liberal and cosmopolitan nation, it has only recently begun to face up to its past as a colonial and slave-trading power.

(With inputs from agencies)

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