WILLEMSTAD, THE HAGUE - Should the Dutch government apologize for the Dutch slavery past? This question is central to the working visit of the Dutch House of Representatives to Suriname, Curaçao and Bonaire. Today a parliamentary delegation starts a nine-day journey, intended as preparation for the commemorative year 2023. Then it will be 150 years ago that slavery in the Netherlands was ended.
The Dutch MPs will hold all kinds of conversations, including with representatives of the people and scientists. In Curaçao, the delegation will enter into discussions with local residents in various neighborhoods who have previously held mutual dialogue sessions.
First
It is the first time that a Dutch Parliamentary delegation will lay a wreath at the commemoration of the great slave revolt of 1795, 17 August. Curaçao is eagerly looking forward to the visit and the next step that is almost inevitable: acknowledgment of the slavery past and apologies from the State of the Netherlands.
Gibi Basilio, organizer of neighborhood dialogues about slavery and its impact in today's society, is very happy with the visit. “Although the delegation has invited itself, it is good that it is happening now. It is important that the MPs come and see, listen, taste and experience what the people of Curaçao mean by the effect of slavery on today's life.”
According to Basilio, the MPs will mainly receive a lot of information. “The visit should make the House of Representatives realize that relations in the Kingdom should be based on emancipation and not on recolonization. The MPs will experience what that means during their visit and must give them ammunition to debate the slavery past with their own government,” said Basilio.
Basilio expects the visit to be a prelude to the process of recognition, apology and reparations that should take shape next year, 150 years after the true abolition of slavery. As far as Basilio is concerned, reparations means that the Netherlands must invest in solving the backlog that people in Curaçao have incurred as a result of history.
Apologies
In 1863 the Netherlands officially abolished slavery in its colonies, but ten years later the enslaved were in fact free. Last year, a committee advised the Dutch State to offer apologies. The government has not yet done so, but has promised to provide a response before the end of the year. Several cities have already apologized, just like the Nederlandsche Bank, for example.
Delegation
The delegation consists of nine MPs and is led by Kiki Hagen (D66). Also among the participants are party leaders: Klaver (GroenLinks) and Simons (Bij1). Hagen describes the visit as a research trip. This could lead to recommendations to the cabinet.
The largest faction, the VVD, is not participating in the trip. According to VVD MP Van Strien, a nine-day trip currently has insufficient added value. The VVD says it does not yet have a definitive position on possible apologies. In any case, D66, ChristenUnie, PvdA, SP, GroenLinks, Party for the Animals, Denk, Volt, Bij1 and the Den Haan faction are in favor of apologizing.
Hagen is in favor, as chairman of the delegation, but as chairman of the delegation does not want to anticipate the question of whether an excuse should be made: “I hope that this trip will make an important contribution to gaining a good insight into what the slavery past still means. and that we can look ahead.”
Photo credit: Dick Drayer
