For the first time, a majority in the House of Representatives openly advocates apologizing for the Dutch past in slavery. MPs who traveled to Suriname, Curaçao and Bonaire in August wrote a letter advising the cabinet to apologize on behalf of the Dutch state.

These are MPs from D66, CDA, PvdA, GroenLinks, SP, ChristenUnie, Volt and BIJ1, who have come at the initiative of D66 member Salima Belhaj. Most of them have already been known to apologize, but it is the first time that the ruling party CDA has also spoken out so forcefully. Previously, this party had little sympathy for official apologies.

It is also clear from other parties in the House of Representatives, such as Denk and the Party for the Animals, that they are demanding an apology from the cabinet. However, as they were not part of the working visit, they do not fall under the letter to the government.

‘Beginning of Recognition’

MPs see the apology for the slavery past “as an essential beginning of recognition and recovery”. The conversations they had with residents of Suriname, Curaçao and Bonaire showed that they care about apologies, but at the same time “do not ask for an apology, certainly not from individual European Dutch people”.

They believe that today’s generation is not to blame for what happened 150 years ago, but the Dutch state played a crucial role in slavery.

Sincerely

When apologies are made, they must above all be sincere, say the interlocutors of the parliamentary delegation. This sincerity must then be proved by a change of action. “In dealing with our colonial history in the here and now, with the indigenous peoples, the heirs of the enslaved and with other victims of the colonial era, such as the forced labourers,” the letter says.

The call for apologies keeps getting louder. In June, the cabinet rejected such a gesture during the annual commemoration of the abolition of slavery on Keti Koti. Ministers wanted more time to tie the knot and sources say they didn’t like the timing.

Because of the social unrest surrounding rising prices and the nitrogen crisis, people had something else on their minds, it was said at the time.

2023 in recognition of recognition

Prime Minister Rutte said during a two-day visit to Suriname last month that 2023 should be dominated by acknowledging the suffering of slavery. Next year will be 150 years since slavery was abolished.

According to the parliamentary delegation, “There is a widespread feeling that 2023 can be an important year and that in Suriname, the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, and in the Netherlands, this will be seen as an opportunity to start and start a conversation stand still, stand by transatlantic slavery and the colonial past.”

Incidentally, various parties have deliberately decided against a working visit to Suriname, Curaçao and Bonaire. Parties like the PVV, JA21 and the governing party VVD saw no added value.