Foundation Asks King To Come To Suriname For Apology: ‘Weatherwind Is A Descendant Of A Slave’ | Abroad

On Friday, insiders reported after reporting the NO that eight cabinet members will apologize on December 19 in various fora, including Minister Franc Weerwind (Legal Protection) in Suriname. The foundation believes this is inappropriate, according to them, Weerwind is “a descendant of people enslaved in Paramaribo”.

“The Netherlands didn’t ask an Indonesian descendant of Indonesian slavery to do this in Indonesia, did it?” said Roy Kaikusi Greenberg, president of the foundation. “The Germans didn’t ask a Dutchman to apologize for WWII in the Netherlands, did they? Obviously not. King Willem-Alexander and Chancellor Helmut Kohl respectfully apologized for the more appropriate date at the “crime scene”.

The foundation would like the king to apologize to the descendants of the indigenous and African victims on July 1, 2023. “Suriname was where the Netherlands practiced slavery on a large scale,” says Kaikusi Groenberg. “This state of affairs causes a lot of turmoil in Dutch Afro-Caribbean society.”

Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Friday that it was not for the king to make excuses. The monarch is a “symbol of the country’s unity,” Rutte argues. “You don’t want to involve them in political debate.” In March 2020, during a state visit to Indonesia, the king apologized for Dutch violence during the Indonesian War of Independence (1945-1950).

Even the The National Repair Commission Suriname (NRCS) is not happy with how an apology is likely to be made. President Armand Zunder told the Surinamese newspaper on Saturday True Time know that the process of apologizing for past slavery is moving too fast.

He has often pointed out that the wording of the expression of regret is very delicate. It is therefore important that everyone involved, including natives and descendants of enslaved people in Suriname, have a say in this. If this does not happen, according to Zunder, there is a risk that those involved will not accept the apology.

Criticism from Suriname indicates “that there is noise on the line,” Joyce Sylvester, chair of the state commission against discrimination and racism, said on the TV show Buitenhof. According to her, the cabinet should use the time ahead to discuss the apology again.

Sylvester thinks King Willem-Alexander should also apologize as an ‘institution’ on July 1 next year, when slavery will be formally and practically abolished for 150 years. “I think it will bring a lot of reconciliation.”

According to Sylvester, ‘not only the content, but also the tone of voiceimportant when you apologize. “You may have good intentions, but if it’s not picked up like that and if the message isn’t received like that, you’re going to get nothing.” That’s why the government and other parties involved need to meet “quickly” to see what can still be “fixed”.