Amsterdam debates making Keti Koti, slavery abolition celebration, a public holiday
Amsterdam is debating whether Keti Koti should become a national public holiday. The annual July 1 commemoration marks the abolition of slavery in the former Dutch colonies and its continuing legacy. Prime Minister Rob Jetten is expected to attend Wednesday’s ceremony in Oosterpark. Questions also remain over the progress of Amsterdam’s post-apology “Route to Recovery” program, launched under Mayor Femke Halsema.
The discussion comes five years after Halsema’s 2021 apology on behalf of Amsterdam for the city’s “active involvement” in slavery. She described the apology as a historic moment. She also framed it as the starting point for a broader process of recognition and repair. Since then, the city has developed a policy framework intended to translate that acknowledgment into concrete measures. However, officials and stakeholders say implementation remains incomplete.
Araya Sumter, Amsterdam’s alderman for social justice, diversity, and inclusion, told Het Parool that she hopes Jetten will deliver a meaningful message during the Oosterpark commemoration. She also supports making July 1 a national public holiday.
Sumter said Keti Koti carries national significance beyond commemoration. “Keti Koti is a national affair,” she said. “The history of slavery concerns us all. I can hardly find words to say how important I find this. We live in a beautiful country, but we must also collectively account for the dark pages of our history. Only then can we heal.”
Sumter suggested broader moments of silence beyond existing practices at Surinameplein. She also proposed expanding observance to June 30. She
“Keti Koti is about pausing to reflect on the ancestors and what they experienced,” she told Het Parool. “You must first know where you come from before you can solve anything together.”
Sumter's parents moved from Suriname to Amsterdam in 1971 shortly before Suriname’s independence. “At home slavery was discussed, while in school there was at most a single paragraph about it in books,” she said. She also recalled early discussions about Zwarte Piet before it became a wider national debate.
Halsema’s 2021 apology has since been framed by the city as the beginning of the “Route to Recovery” program. The program is intended to move from acknowledgment toward structural repair, NRC reported.
The project includes ten policy priorities adopted by the city. A dedicated fund was also established under a coalition agreement between PRO and D66, which is to allocate 2.5 million euros annually through at least 2040.
Those priorities include making July 1 a public holiday for municipal workers, developing educational materials on slavery for schools, and preparing long-term measures tied to reparatory justice, including cultural and institutional initiatives. However, multiple elements remain in development and have not yet been fully implemented.
Sumter, who oversees the program, said the challenge is ensuring the process does not remain symbolic.
“Against 300 years of suffering no amount can stand,” she told Het Parool. “But to be able to do something about healing and repair, you do need money.”
She said the process must be community-driven. “What I find most important is that the fund will be shaped by the communities themselves, from the ground up: by descendants of enslaved people.”
