Dutch King apologises for Netherlands’ historic role in slavery

AMSTERDAM – Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Saturday apologised for the Netherlands’ historic involvement in slavery and the effects that it still has today.

The King was speaking at a ceremony marking the 160th anniversary of the legal abolition of slavery in the Netherlands, including its former colonies in the Caribbean.

“On this day that we remember the Dutch history of slavery, I ask forgiveness for this crime against humanity,” he said.

He said racism in Dutch society remains 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 Amsterdam’s Oosterpark.

The Surinamese words “keti koti” mean the “the chain is broken”, and they form the title given to July 1 as a day of remembrance of slavery and celebration of freedom.

The apology comes amid a wider reconsideration of the Netherlands’ colonial past, including involvement in both the Atlantic slave trade and slavery in the country’s Asian colonies.

King Willem-Alexander apologised in Indonesia in 2020 for “excessive violence” during Dutch colonial rule.

Last December, Prime Minister Mark Rutte

acknowledged that the Dutch state bears a responsibility in the Atlantic slave trade

and profited from it, and apologised.

Mr Rutte has said the government will not pay reparations, as an advisory panel recommended in 2021.

A government-commissioned study published in June found that the House of Orange profited by around US$600 million (S$811 million) in modern terms from Dutch colonies from 1675 to 1770, much of it given as a gift from the Dutch East India Company’s spice trade profits.

The Dutch royal house last December commissioned an independent investigation into the royal family’s role in colonial history, with results expected in 2025. REUTERS