A large majority of the House of Representatives has voted in favor of recognition of and research into Moluccan history in the Netherlands. The motion was submitted last week by MP Don Ceder (CU).
Thirteen other parties also signed the motion. A majority of the House of Representatives now wants an independent investigation into the past, arrival and stay of the Moluccans in the Netherlands. Just like how this history continues into the present. The results of the study should be presented in the first quarter of next year.
This year marks 75 years since the first 12,000 Moluccan KNIL soldiers came to the Netherlands. They had fought on the Dutch side in Indonesia’s war of independence.
The Moluccan soldiers came to the Netherlands with their families on military orders. They were housed in former German concentration camps, such as Camp Westerbork. The accommodation for the KNIL soldiers would initially only be for six months. The Netherlands promised the Moluccan families their return and to help them establish their own state. But that never came.
The results of the research should lead to recognition of that history and an ‘appropriate gesture that does justice to the community and strengthens the community’, the motion says.
It must also be investigated whether a national agenda is needed, making it clear how ‘justice can be done appropriately to the Moluccan community’.