Dutch King Willem-Alexander apologises for colonial-era slavery
Dutch King Willem-Alexander has formally apologised for the Netherlands’ involvement in slavery, saying he felt “personally and intensely” affected.
The king was speaking in Amsterdam on the 160th anniversary of the legal abolition of slavery in the Netherlands, including in former colonies in the Caribbean.
In an emotional speech, he said: “On this day that we remember the Dutch history of slavery, I ask forgiveness for this crime against humanity. As your king and as a member of the government, I make this apology myself. And I feel the weight of the words in my heart and my soul.”
He said racism in Dutch society was still a problem and not everyone would support his apology. However, “the times have changed and keti koti … the chains have truly been broken,” he said to cheers and applause from thousands of onlookers at the national slavery monument in Oosterpark.
Keti koti are Surinamese words that mean “the chain is broken” and form the name given to 1 July as a day of remembrance of slavery and celebration of freedom.
Slavery was abolished in Suriname and the Dutch colonies in the Caribbean on 1 July 1863, but many enslaved labourers were forced to continue working on the plantations for a further decade.
The king’s apology comes amid a wider reconsideration of the Netherlands’ colonial past, including involvement in the Atlantic slave trade and slavery in its former Asian colonies. In 2020, Willem-Alexander apologised in Indonesia for “excessive violence” during Dutch colonial rule.
In December, the prime minister, Mark Rutte, acknowledged that the Dutch state bore a responsibility in the Atlantic slave trade and had profited from it, and apologised. However, Rutte has said the government will not pay reparations, contrary to recommendations made by an advisory panel in 2021.
Last year, Willem-Alexander commissioned a study into the role of the royal House of Orange-Nassau in slavery in the Netherlands, covering the period from the late 16th century to today. The results are expected to be announced in 2025.
A study published last month found that the House of Orange profited by the equivalent of about $600m in today’s money from slavery in the Dutch colonies from 1675 to 1770, including profits from shares in the Dutch East India Company that were in effect given to the royal family as gifts.
Recall that beginning in the 17th Century, the Netherlands grew into one of Europe’s major colonial powers and was responsible for about 5% of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Some 600,000 slaves were transported from Africa to colonies in the Americas, and many Javanese and Balinese people were enslaved and taken to South Africa under Dutch colonial rule.
The Netherlands officially abolished slavery on July 1, 1863. However, slaves continued working on plantations in the Dutch Caribbean for another decade before abolition was put into practice.
With agencies reports
