Prime Minister Rutte formally apologizes for slavery in the past St Maarten Won’t Accept

Prime Minister Rutte formally apologizes for slavery in the past St Maarten Won’t Accept

Prime Minister Rutte formally apologizes for slavery in the past St Maarten Rejects!

https://www.stmaarten.news

Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday apologized on behalf of his government for the historic role of the Netherlands in slavery and the slave trade, despite calls to postpone the long-awaited statement. 

“Today I apologize,” Rutte said in a 20minute speech that was greeted with silence by an invited audience at the National Archives.

Rutte continued with the apology, even though some activist groups in the Netherlands and its former colonies had urged him to wait until July 1 next year, the anniversary of the abolition of slavery 1 60 years ago. Activists are considering the 1 50th anniversary next year because many enslaved people had to work on plantations for a decade after abolition. 

https://www.sxmgovernment.com
“Why the rush?” asked Barryl Biekman, chairman of the Netherlands-based National Platform for Slavery Past, before the Prime Minister’s speech. Some groups went to court last week in a failed attempt to block the speech.

Rutte referred to the difference of opinion in his statements on Monday.

“We know there is no one right time for everyone, no right words for everyone, no right place for everyone,” he said.
He said the government would set up a fund for initiatives to address the legacy of slavery in the Netherlands and its former colonies.
The Dutch government previously expressed deep regret for the country’s historic role in slavery, but dropped out with a formal apology, with Rutte once saying such a statement could polarize society. However, a majority in parliament now supports an apology.

Report
The prime minister’s speech is in response to a report published last year by a government-appointed advisory board. The recommendations include the government l s apology and acknowledgment that the slave trade and slavery from the 17th century until abolition “which took place directly or indirectly under Dutch rule were crimes against humanity”
“The report Chains of the Past from the Slavery Past Dialogue Group plays an important role in the awareness process that many of us are going through.
That report was published on 1 July last year and contained a number of clear conclusions and recommendations.

That report was published on 1 July last year and contained a number of clear conclusions and recommendations.
“The three keywords are:
acknowledgment, apology, recovery. Today we will send the official government response to the House of Representatives. We embrace the analysis and conclusions of the Dialogue
Group.” Thus Ruth. https://www.stmaartennews.org