Gov't talking with employers about making slavery commemoration a public holiday

Minister Judith Uitermark of Home Affairs recognises the importance of making July 1 a national day to commemorate the abolition of slavery. She says that the Commemoration Committee for Slavery Past is in talks with employers, among others, to see whether it can also become a public holiday.

During a debate on the government’s commitment to the Netherlands’ history of slavery, Uitermark stressed that days off are not legally established, but that employers decide. She mentioned several employers who already give their workers the day off on the commemoration and celebration on July 1, which is called Keti Koti.

D66, GroenLinks-PvdA, and DENK, among others, asked Uitermark about the possibility of making Keti Koti a holiday. DENK MP Stephan van Baarle wants a quick outcome of the committee’s discussions. According to him, this topic has been discussed for a long time, and it is time for a decision.

Slavery was abolished in the Netherlands and its former colonies on 1 July 1863. This is commemorated and celebrated every year with speeches at the National Slavery Monument in the Oosterpark in Amsterdam, among other things. King Willem Alexander apologized for the Netherlands’ slavery past at the national commemoration in 2023.

Both the king and then-Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that the apology for slavery would not be followed by a full stop, but by a comma. By this, they meant that much more needs to be done than just offering apologies. PVV MP Peter van Haasen wondered whether it was not time to put a full stop. Uitermark firmly rejected this, saying that much still needs to be done to make up for this “criminal past.”

PVV thinks Netherlands had no active role in slavery

PVV MP Van Haasen believes that slavery happened to the Netherlands and that the Netherlands did not make a conscious choice to start the transatlantic slave trade. According to the far-right politician, slavery “was never a preconceived plan.” The PVV parliamentarian said that it was mainly the Moors and African tribes that were guilty of slavery.

VVD parliamentarian Eric van der Burg found that a “bizarre” statement for a “white Dutchman” to make. “You’re saying that we did not go find them, but that people jumped on board their ships and asked to be taken across the Atlantic Ocean.”