Dutch king should apologize for slavery, says advocates; Cabinet’s plan criticized

When the Netherlands issues its apologies for the country’s historical ties to the slave trade, it should be King Willem-Alexander who apologizes, said the Foundation for Honor and Reparations to the Victims of Slavery in Suriname. On Friday, following reports from the NOS, sources confirmed that on 19 December, eight Cabinet members will apologize for the history of slavery, including Legal Protection Minister Franc Weerwind who will do so in Suriname.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte is expected to speak in the Netherlands. The other Cabinet members will deliver addresses on the same date in Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Eustatius, Saba and St. Maarten.

The foundation is displeased, and thinks this approach is inappropriate. After all, Weerwind is a "descendant of enslaved people in Paramaribo."

The foundation’s chair, Roy Kaikusi Groenberg, argued "The Netherlands has not asked an Indonesian descendant of Indonesian slavery to do this in Indonesia, has it? Have the Germans asked a Dutchman to apologize for the Second World War in the Netherlands? Of course not. Or have King Willem-Alexander, and (former) Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl very respectfully offered their apologies on the most appropriate date at 'the crime scene?'”

Kaikusi Groenberg added, "This state of affairs is causing a lot of turmoil in Afro-Caribbean Dutch society." The foundation would like to see the king apologize "to the descendants of the indigenous and African victims" on 1 July 2023, the annual date marking the abolition of slavery. "Suriname is where the Netherlands has practiced slavery on a large scale."

Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced Friday that it is not for the king to make apologies. The monarch is a "symbol of the unity of the country," the Dutch prime minister argued. "You don't want to draw them into the political debate."

The Surinamese committee on reparations, Nationale Reparatie Commissie Suriname (NRCS), is also not happy with how apologies are expected to be given. NRCS chair Armand Zunder said in the Surinamese newspaper De Ware Tijd on Saturday that the apology process for the history of slavery is now being rushed. He has often emphasized that the wording of the expression of regret is very sensitive.

Therefore, it is important that all those involved, including the natives and descendants of enslaved people in Suriname, should have a say in this. If that does not happen, there is a risk that those involved will not accept the apology, according to Zunder.

If it is up to the chair and his committee, the apology should not take place before 1 July next year. The committee has already conveyed this message to the Dutch ambassador in Suriname.