“For centuries the Dutch State and its representatives facilitated, stimulated, preserved, and profited from slavery. For centuries, in the name of the Dutch State, human beings were made into commodities, exploited, and abused.”— Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte

For over 400 years more than 15 million men, women, and children were the victims of the tragic transatlantic slave trade, one of the darkest chapters in human history. The recent apology by the Dutch prime minister took most of us by surprise. Those of us who have been conscious of the work of the Caricom Reparations Committee have welcomed, though guardedly, the long-awaited apology by this former colonial power for its involvement in chattel slavery.

The Dutch Government’s involvement in the slave trade was specifically related to the Dutch West Indies. Many of us are familiar with the ABC islands. These islands are Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. In addition to the ABC islands, there are other Dutch islands such as Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, Saba, and Suriname.

Two points stood out for me in Prime Minister Rutte’s apology. His acknowledgement that the Dutch involvement in slavery was a “crime against humanity” was a bold move, but was it genuine? The fact that the prime minister ended his statement with a comma rather than a full stop is welcoming. This symbolism is encouraging, especially as it relates to reparation. Undoubtedly the Netherlands profited greatly from the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries; the major enterprise of the Dutch West India Company was to transport slaves from Africa to the Americas. The Dutch did not ban slavery in its territories until 1863, though it was illegal in the Netherlands. Dutch traders are estimated to have shipped more than half a million enslaved Africans to the Americas. Many went to Brazil and the Caribbean, while a considerable number of Asians were enslaved in the Dutch East Indies, which is modern-day Indonesia.

According to Karwan Fatah-Black, an expert in Dutch colonial history and assistant professor at Leiden University, the Dutch first became involved in the transatlantic slave trade in the late 1500s and became a major trader in the mid-1600s. Eventually the Dutch West India Company became the largest transatlantic slave trader. Not surprisingly, the Dutch King Willem-Alexander welcomed the prime minister’s apology for slavery. King Willem-Alexander in his Christmas message said, “But by viewing our joint history in an honest way and by acknowledging the crime against humanity that slavery was, we are, however, laying the foundations for a joint future.” However, there is no mention of reparation by the Dutch king to the descendants of those who were enslaved by his family. This, therefore, leaves us to wonder about this joint future to which he referred in his speech.

Suriname’s Response

Suriname is a small South American nation, a former Dutch colony, where plantation owners generated huge profits through the use of enslaved labour. The largest Opposition party in Suriname, the National Democratic Party (NDP), has condemned the Dutch Government for failing to adequately consult with the descendants of enslaved people. The descendants of slaves say the apology is not enough and demand reparation. It should be noted that during the speech the Dutch prime minister also announced the creation of a 200-million euro fund to help tackle the legacy of slavery and boost education about this issue.

Caricom Reparations Commission

the Caricom Reparations Commission and vice chancellor of The University of the West Indies Professor Sir Hilary Beckles issued a statement in response to the apology for African enslavement by Prime Minister Rutte.

“It has been near a decade since the governments of Caricom established a Reparations Commission to promote regional and global understanding of the enslavement of African people and native genocide, with the objective of securing reparatory justice and development for the still-suffering people of the Caribbean. With the formal apology from the Dutch prime minister acknowledging that the transatlantic slave trade in enchained African bodies and chattel enslavement were crimes against humanity, the reparatory justice movement has moved into a new phase. Historic though it is, the statement is flawed on the basis that the prime minister did not seek the organised input and support of the Caribbean. The unilateralism of the apology and acknowledgements must now move to a multilateral basis. The marginalisation of these victim communities will undoubtedly be experienced as an ongoing approach steeped in the imperial culture we are seeking to replace with a deeper democratic sensibility. The Dutch State was Europe’s pioneer of the global slavery enterprise.” The Caricom Reparations Committee statement added that for most of the 17th century the Dutch monopolised the transatlantic slave trade and provided the finance and technology that enabled the English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese to establish their own slave-based empires. As a result, Amsterdam became the financial centre of Europe and the leading supplier globally of capital for colonisation.

Caricom’s 10-Point Action Plan

The Caricom Reparations Commission in collaboration with the Centre for Reparation Research has developed 10 points outlining the route to negotiations for reparation from Denmark, France, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and other European states. They are as follows:

1) Full and formal apology

2) Indigenous peoples’ development programme

3) Funding for repatriation to Africa

4) The establishment of cultural institutions and the return of cultural heritage

5) Assistance in remedying the public health crisis

6)Education programmes

7)The enhancement of historical and cultural knowledge exchanges

8)Psychological rehabilitation as a result of the transmission of trauma

9) The right to development through the use of technology

10) Debt cancellation and monetary compensation

Let History Judge

The reparation issue and the legal and moral question it raises has reverberated globally. In 2010 the French President Nicolas Sarkozy offered an aid and debt-cancellation package to Haiti, opening the wounds of colonisation. The Caricom Reparations Committee has worked tirelessly over the decade in order to lobby and advocate for reparatory justice for the marginalised victims of the transatlantic slave trade. It appears that finally some fruits of its work is close at hand.

However, many of us were disappointed by the muted or lukewarm responses from the heads of Government of the Caribbean region regarding the Dutch apology. In the past we had comments regarding regrets for slavery by former British Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince William on visits to Jamaica and then Prince Charles on a visit to Barbados.

On his trip to Jamaica, Cameron announced that Britain would spend $38 million from its foreign aid budget to build a prison in Jamaica, where Jamaican criminals in Britain could be sent to serve out their sentences. Many Jamaicans found Cameron’s announcement offensive and the offer was not taken up by the Government.

For those of us who are descendants of enslaved people there is a glimmer of hope going into 2023. History is the best judge of all things. We can be hopeful that the Dutch apology will set precedence for other European countries to follow by making right a historic wrong and a crime against humanity. The fact is no amount of money can suffice the pain and suffering our ancestors endured during the centuries of enslavement. That is why the narrative must be one in which the descendents of the enslaved have a voice. Unquestionably, reparation must be part of the way forward in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

In the words of Sir Hilary Beckles, this is not about retribution and anger, it’s about atonement; it’s about the building of bridges across lines of moral justice.

Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and/or gender issues. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or waykam@yahoo.com/@WayneCamo