A historic royal apology for the Netherlands’ complicity in slavery was made by King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands on Saturday, expressing how “personally and intensely” it affected him.
Recall that the government’s formal apology was already made in December by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The ceremonies in Amsterdam for “Keti Koti”—which means “breaking the chains” in Surinamese—to mark 150 years since the practise was outlawed drew thousands of descendants of slaves from Suriname and the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.
“Today I’m standing here in front of you as your king and as part of the government. Today I am apologising personally,” Willem-Alexander said to loud cheers from the crowd.
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“I am intensely experiencing this with my heart and soul,” the monarch told those attending the event, held under a light drizzle in the capital’s Oosterpark gardens.
“Slave trading and slavery is recognised as a crime against humanity,” the king said.
“The monarchs and rulers of the House of Orange took no steps against it.”
“Today, I am asking for forgiveness for the crystal-clear lack of action, on this day when we are commemorating slavery in the Netherlands,” Willem-Alexander said in his speech, broadcast live on television.
Slaves’ descendants have urged the king to apologise during the ceremony before it begins.
“That is important, especially because the Afro-Dutch community considers it important,” Linda Nooitmeer, chairman of the National Institute of Dutch Slavery History and Legacy, told public broadcaster NOS.
“It is important for processing the history of slavery.”
