Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Saturday apologised for the Netherlands' historical involvement in slavery and the effects it still has today, describing it as the “most painful, most degrading and most inhuman” way of robbing a person of their freedom.
The king was speaking to loud cheers in Amsterdam at the 160th anniversary of the legal abolition of slavery in the Netherlands, including former colonies in the Caribbean.
“Today I stand before you. Today, 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,” said the king, accompanied by his wife Queen Maxima, dressed in a deep blue dress and matching stiletto heels.
He said thanks to the work of researchers, the Netherlands was learning more and more about its role in the history of slavery.
“We know that more than 600,000 people were transported across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa aboard Dutch ships to be sold as slaves or put to work on plantations. About 75,000 did not survive the crossing.
“We also know about the extensive slave trade to the East, in areas controlled by the Dutch East India Company. And we know about the atrocities committed against the indigenous populations of the colonies.
“But there is also so much that we don’t know. The archives contain the raw figures. They present the facts with a book-keeper’s precision. But the voices of the enslaved are lost in the mists of time. Leaving barely a trace behind.
“I wonder what these people felt. Ripped from their communities. Cut off from their culture, their rituals, and the land where their ancestors lived. What did they think, as they made the long journey, crowded into airless holds, the men shackled in pairs?”
The archives contain the raw figures. They present the facts with a book-keeper’s precision. But the voices of the enslaved are lost in the mists of time. Leaving barely a trace behind
— Dutch King Willem-Alexander
He said there was no blueprint for the process of healing, reconciliation and recovery.
“Together, we are in uncharted territory. So let’s support and guide each other.
“Sixty years ago today, a group of Dutch people of Surinamese origin marched through the centre of Amsterdam waving banners that read 'Ketie Kotie fri moe de [The chains are broken, we must be free]'. They lit the fire of remembrance that we keep alight today.
“This is an important day for anyone with ties to Suriname, including those whose forebears travelled to the colony as contract labourers.
“I hope that the descendants of enslaved people and of people subjected to forced labour in other parts of the world feel they are part of this gathering. I hope they feel heard. People from the Caribbean part of the kingdom. And the many Dutch people who have ties to Indonesia, and who carry the pain of great injustice in the past.”
His apology came after a study examining the role of the Dutch government and related institutions in colonial slavery, and the after-effects, was presented to the Dutch parliament earlier this month.
It found that Netherlands' House of Orange profited by about 3-million guilders, or $600m in modern terms, from Dutch colonies in the 1675-1770 period. Princes of the time notably received 3% of the Dutch East India Company's profits from the spice trade in modern Indonesia — despite not having been a shareholder.
The apologies came amid a wider reconsideration of the country's colonial past, including efforts to return looted art, and its current struggles with racism.
In December, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologised on behalf of the Dutch state for its involvement in the slave trade. He said that slavery must be recognised in “the clearest terms” as “a crime against humanity”.
Rutte was responding to a national advisory panel set up after the 2020 killing of George Floyd in the US. The panel said that Dutch participation in slavery had amounted to crimes against humanity and in 2021 recommended an apology and reparations.
He said his government embraced those conclusions, including that slavery had been a crime against humanity. However, he ruled out reparations, though the Dutch government is setting up a $218m educational fund.
Historians estimate Dutch traders shipped more than half a million enslaved Africans to the Americas, mostly to Brazil and the Caribbean. As many, or more, Asians were enslaved in the East Indies, modern Indonesia.
Many Dutch people take pride in the country's naval history and prowess as a trading nation. However, children are taught little of the role in the slave trade played by the Dutch West India Company and the Dutch East India Company, key sources of national wealth.
Despite the Dutch reputation for tolerance, racism is a significant problem. Citizens of Antillean, Turkish and Moroccan ancestry report high rates of discrimination in their everyday lives and recent studies have shown they have significant disadvantages in the workplace and in the housing market.
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