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Rutte’s apology sparks difficult conversation on slavery in Indonesia
Local kingdoms had brokered slaves for the Dutch and had thus been complicit in the practice of slavery in the archipelago, historians say.
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Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (right) gives a speech in the National Archives in The Hague, on Dec. 19. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Dec. 19 officially apologized for 250 years of the Netherlands' involvement in slavery, calling it a crime against humanity.
(AFP/Robin van Lonkhuijsen )
T
he time was nigh for Indonesia to embark on a candid discourse about its role in enabling slavery during the colonial era, experts said following Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s apology speech addressing the Dutch state’s historical role in slavery.
The Dutch slave trade had inflicted significant agony on Indonesians, they said, particularly on the tens of thousands dispatched to other Dutch-ruled nations like Suriname. Yet the fact that the slaves had first been first brokered by local kingdoms like Bali and Lombok indicated a real need for national reconciliation and education, they urged.
In a 20-minute speech, Rutte on Monday night sought forgiveness from its 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 wherein 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]”. While some media outlets have reported that it indicated an apology to Indonesia, historians argued that it did not -- due to complications rooted in Indonesia’s complicity in the matter.
“The Indonesian kingdoms were the ones selling the slaves. The Dutch took it as an opportunity, enjoying what was available to them. It is a different story in the Caribbean, where the Dutch transported slaves and enslaved existing locals,” said Andi Achdian, a colonialism expert at the National University of Indonesia (UNAS) to The Jakarta Post.
“This dark side of our history must be perceived in its full naked truth.”
