(The Hague) Organizations from former Dutch colonies criticized Thursday in The Hague, during a meeting with the Prime Minister, the possibility of an official apology for slavery, considered according to the press by the government on behalf of the Dutch state.
The government plans to issue the apology on December 19 through the voice of several ministers at different locations in the former colonies, according to reports by Dutch media.
The government has not confirmed this information.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte simply said Thursday after meeting with representatives of several organizations that there would be a “significant moment” on the subject on December 19, without specifying whether there would be an official apology.
Organizations from former colonies such as Suriname in South America and Caribbean countries have opposed the “arbitrary” date of December 19 and complain that they were not consulted.
They want an official apology for slavery, but they want it issued on the 1er July 2023, date of 150e anniversary of the end of slavery in the former Dutch colonies.
“One could assume that it would be done in a way that would satisfy both parties, but that is absolutely not the case for us,” Johan Roozer, chairman of the Surinamese National Commemoration Committee, told NOS public television. slavery.
According to him, Mr. Rutte set the date of December 19 because of “the evolution of the political situation” in the Netherlands, where the extreme right, opposed to this official apology, has the wind in its sails in the polls .
The Prime Minister for his part said that the government wanted the event planned for this date to be a “success” and that it was part of a “process”, reported the Dutch news agency ANP.
Mark Rutte also called the leak of the date to the media “extremely regrettable”.
In recent years, the Netherlands has begun to face the legacy of its colonial history and its role in slavery.
The city of Amsterdam has officially apologized for its role in the slave trade, while the Rijksmuseum held the first exhibition on the subject last year.
Slavery helped fund the Dutch Golden Age, a period of prosperity through maritime trade in the 16e and XVIIe centuries.