The king must soon ‘radiate warmth’ and ‘talk, but above all listen’ in Suriname

“It was about time,” says Jacqueline Louz (80). “Better late than never,” says Ronald Snijders (64). “The king is the symbol of the Netherlands. It is nice if ties with Suriname remain warm,” says Jilani Aliradja (22).

Whoever you ask on this evening in the Hague town hall, where a photo exhibition was opened last week about the residents of The Hague and their bond with Suriname, almost everyone knows that King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima are making a state visit to Suriname. Such a visit is considered the highest diplomatic means to confirm bilateral ties between countries.

We would have liked to have gone much earlier

It is the first Dutch state visit to Suriname since 1978. Then it was Queen Juliana, the grandmother of the current king, who visited Suriname. Three years earlier, the former colony of the Netherlands had become independent, which is now being celebrated on a grand scale in 2025.

It is known that King Willem-Alexander very much wanted to visit Suriname. He said on Tuesday at the opening of the Suriname Museum in Amsterdam that he and his wife are “very looking forward to it”. “We would have liked to have gone much earlier.”

Slavery

Princess Beatrix never visited the South American country as queen – when she ascended the throne in 1980, a coup had just taken place in Suriname by sixteen sergeants led by Desi Bouterse. Bouterse remained in power for seven years and led another coup in 1990. After 1988, Beatrix was invited by President Ronald Venetiaan. He, in turn, came to the Netherlands on a working visit in 1992 – but nothing happened.

It was in the air that there would be a state visit this decade. Bouterse, convicted in the Netherlands of drug trafficking, was president until 2020 and was convicted in 2021 for involvement in the December murders. Since then, diplomatic relations between the two countries have been fully restored. At first there was only a so-called charge d’affaires), then President Chan Santokhi came to The Hague on a working visit. An invitation for a return visit followed: in 2022, then Prime Minister Mark Rutte was the first Dutch Prime Minister to visit Suriname since 2008.

Rutte spoke in the Surinamese parliament about “a common future” and “the common history that (..) still carries so much pain.” “We cannot change that past, but we can and must face it,” he said. A few months later, Rutte would apologize on behalf of the Dutch government for its involvement in slavery. He called those excuses “no big deal [maar] a comma.” Steps would be taken that would lead to healing and tackle the impact of the colonial past.

The king would not only repeat that apology in 2023 as a member of the government; Even as head of the Van Oranje-Nassau family, he would ask forgiveness for the role his ancestors had played in the slave trade. “For the obvious lack of action against this crime against humanity.”

Zoom in

Zoom in

Zoom in

Descendants of enslaved people

On Monday Willem-Alexander will speak in Paramaribo with descendants of enslaved people and indigenous communities, and on Wednesday he will visit a former coffee and cocoa plantation with Queen Máxima.

That is also what visitors to The Hague City Hall hoped the royal couple would do. “Rutte’s comma is an insignificant punctuation mark. It is about putting it into effect. It is possible that the king’s visit will help with this, but he has no political function,” says Winti priestess Marian Markelo (70). “That is up to the cabinet.”

“If I had made the program, it would involve contact with authorities of indigenous people and so-called Maroons, and with traditional spiritual leaders. His request for forgiveness is linked to the existence of that group,” Markelo emphasizes.

I would advise the king to take the bus and watch how people have to fight to live

(73), a former teacher and one of the people whose photo is in the exhibition, talks about the dissatisfaction of the original inhabitants: “We felt that we were not properly involved in independence, that we were not asked for our opinion. What should the king do about it? Talk, but above all listen. We used to be seen as second-class citizens, listening would mean recognition.”

Hillery Stjura (50): “Independence did not do justice to land rights and that remains true to this day. The king should meet people, but it is better that he mentions this in a speech.”

Williams: “Absolutely that would be recognition.”

Pain

Jazz flutist, a photo of whom can also be seen at the exhibition, played when the king apologized: “That was impressive. But the effect has been slow since then.” Artist Jacqueline Louz says: “It would be good if the king realized what disadvantages, which arose during colonial times and which have not been addressed, still exist.”

Frank Kanhai, (62) and also one of the subjects: “I would advise him to take the bus and watch how people have to struggle. Some have to have two or three jobs to be able to live.”

Zoom in

Hariëtte Mingoen (71), who wants to make Javanese contract labor in Suriname visible, says: “The king should focus on visits to different communities to see how they have developed. There are different sides of history.”

(also 71), chairman of the Federation of Islamic Organizations,: “The king must above all meet the citizen. Do not stay at the top, but radiate warmth to the population. And especially the original first inhabitants.”

His grandson (22): “The colonial past is a scar. You cannot remove it. But you can ensure that the pain is alleviated through attention.”

Give a gift





Part





Email the editor

Why you can trust NRC