THE HAGUE – Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten has reaffirmed the importance of confronting the Netherlands’ slavery and colonial past, calling public awareness and recognition of its lasting impact a priority for his cabinet.
Jetten made the remarks after a meeting with representatives of the Herdenkingscomité Slavernijverleden, the Nationaal Instituut Nederlands Slavernijverleden en Erfenis (NiNsee), and the Nationaal Slavernijmuseum.
The discussion focused on what participants described as the mission of remembrance, understanding, passing on knowledge, and healing.
Also present at the meeting were Minister of the Interior Pieter Heerma and Foreign Affairs Minister Tom Berendsen.
“We must never forget our slavery past,” Jetten said after the meeting. He stressed that actively working on social awareness about the colonial and slavery past—and its continuing effects—is not only important but an ongoing responsibility for government and society alike.
According to Jetten, the conversation focused on how government and heritage organizations can strengthen cooperation in advancing recognition and public understanding of this history.
He described the process as ongoing, emphasizing that the work toward acknowledgment and healing is “a comma, not a period,” signaling that the discussion and policy efforts are far from finished.
The meeting comes just ahead of Jetten’s introductory visit to the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, where issues of slavery history and its legacy remain deeply connected to the social and historical fabric of islands such as Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten.