TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologized for the role of the Dutch state in slavery, calling it a crime against humanity. But he only glanced over his country’s slavery past in Indonesia.
In a much-anticipated speech, the Dutch Prime Minister apologized for his country’s long and gruesome role in slavery. “Today, on behalf of the Dutch government, I apologize for the past actions of the Dutch State,” Rutte said on Monday, December 19, in The Hague. “To enslaved people in the past, everywhere in the world, who suffered as a consequence of those actions, as well as to their daughters and sons, and to all their descendants, up to the present day.”
Speaking in front of an audience that included descendants of enslaved people from former Dutch colonies in the Caribbean – some visibly emotional - Rutte said: “For centuries, the Dutch State and its representatives facilitated, stimulated, preserved and profited from slavery. For centuries, in the name of the Dutch State, human beings were made into commodities, exploited and abused.” He stressed: “We who live in today’s world must acknowledge the evils of slavery in the clearest possible terms, and condemn it as a crime against humanity.”
The Netherlands was a significant colonial power from the 17th to the 20th century, with long-term colonies in Indonesia and the Caribbean, and temporary control over regions like Brazil and Sri Lanka. One important ‘cargo’ the Dutch distributed around the globe – through the VOC (Dutch East Indies Company) in the Pacific and the WIC (West Indies Company) in the Atlantic – was enslaved people. It is estimated that between one and two million people were enslaved under the WIC and VOC.
After decades of largely looking the other way regarding its colonial history, the Netherlands has been more forthcoming in recent years in publicly acknowledging its dark past. King Willem Alexander, during his visit to Indonesia in 2020, apologized for the “excessive violence” committed by Dutch troops in Indonesia’s Independence War. In February this year, Rutte gave a similar apology on behalf of his government, following the publication of major research underlining systematic violence from the Dutch side during the Independence War. A number of exhibitions on colonialism and slavery have taken place in leading Dutch museums like its national Rijksmuseum.
People from former Dutch colonies of Surinam and the Dutch Antilles have been calling for decades for the Netherlands to formally apologize for its slavery sins. However, even as recently as September 2021, Mark Rutte was still evasive when questioned about the matter, saying that it was “horrible, but also such a long time ago,” as quoted by the Volkskrant daily. In his speech on Monday, he did admit that his earlier view on the matter was “wrong”. “Centuries of oppression and exploitation still have an effect to this very day. In racist stereotypes. In discriminatory patterns of exclusion. In social inequality.”
While many applauded Rutte’s long-awaited apology, some questioned why slavery in the Dutch East Indies was barely mentioned. In his 20-minute speech, this was the only mention of slavery in the Indonesian archipelago: “In Asia, between 660,000 and over one million people – we don’t even know exactly how many – were traded within the areas under the authority of the Dutch East India Company”. The focus was clearly on the Dutch’ trans-Atlantic slavery past, with Rutte expressing the words ‘apologies’ in his statement in the local languages of Surinam and the Dutch Antilles.
Writer and historian Reggie Baay who wrote "Daar werd wat gruwelijks verricht: Slavernij in Nederlands-Indie" (Gruesome things were committed there: Slavery in the Dutch East Indies) in 2015 laments the apology as a missed opportunity. “The fact that the Surinam and Dutch Caribbean communities are more outspoken (about this) does not mean that the scope of slavery in the East should be veiled,” Baay said as quoted by the state broadcaster NOS.
Linawati Sidarto
Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News
