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Dutch apology rings hollow to Indonesian ears
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Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte addresses a speech on the Netherlands' involvement in slavery, in the National Archives in The Hague, on Dec. 19, 2022. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Dec. 19, 2022, officially apologized for 250 years of the Netherlands' involvement in slavery, calling it a crime against humanity. (AFP/ANP/Robin van Lonkhuijsen)
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ndonesia has responded tepidly to a speech made by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologizing for 250 years of slavery in the country’s former colonies, saying the country needs to do more than simply offer a mea culpa for its role.
In a 20-minute speech on Monday, Rutte apologized to the country’s former colonies, particularly seven Caribbean states: Suriname, Curaçao, St Maarten, Aruba, Bonaire, Saba and St Eustatius. Calling the Dutch slave trade an unimaginable “criminal system [...] so inhuman and unjust”, Rutte announced a fund for social initiatives in Curaçao, St Maarten, Aruba and Suriname.
Indonesia, a former Dutch colony where slavery was practiced, was not explicitly mentioned, except for the acknowledgement that “between 660,000 and over 1 million people [...] were traded within the areas under the authority of the Dutch East India Company [VOC]”.
“Rutte’s speech does not mention Indonesia. In the English and Dutch versions of his speech, he only mentioned the Caribbean countries. So from the point of view of the foreign minister – and we on House of Representatives Commission I approve of this view – [the speech] was more political and made to cater PM Rutte’s domestic needs,” said TB Hasanuddin, a senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator who sits on the House’s foreign affairs commission.
Indonesia, he said, would only make an official response if the Dutch prime minister sent an official diplomatic letter to acknowledge the atrocities committed by Dutch troops and the country’s complicity in the practice of slavery and racism in Indonesia.
The Foreign Ministry is awaiting more information about the speech from its mission in The Hague before issuing any statements, according to ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah.
