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Moluccans had to wait 75 years for it. Yet the apology to the Moluccans offered on Sunday is an important start, writes our editor-in-chief Rennie Rijpma.
The apology to the Moluccans in the Netherlands could have been made much earlier. There was no need to wait 75 years. There was no need to let sadness, anger and frustration build up for so long. It was not necessary, as time passed, for so many people who were directly affected to no longer witness these words. Yet it is above all important that Prime Minister Jetten made an apology on behalf of the Dutch government on Sunday.
Anyone who looks at the history of 1951 with today’s eyes is ashamed. The Moluccans, mainly KNIL soldiers with their families, came to the Netherlands temporarily because they could not stay in Ambon, could not go to New Guinea and there was no independent Moluccan state. Upon arrival in the Netherlands, the soldiers were immediately discharged. ‘The callous and dishonorable dismissal as a soldier’Jetten rightly said this on Sunday.
Jetten speaks about the sadness and pain that affected so many Moluccan families. That deserves an apology, and more than that
The families were taken care of, but the conditions in Camp Vught and Camp Westerbork, among others, were dire. The emotionally charged history was there then and is still palpable now. ‘The inadequate shelter and housing’, says Jetten now.
While it became increasingly clear that the stay in the Netherlands would not be temporary. Jetten speaks about ‘the unfulfilled longing for home’ and the sadness and pain that affected so many Moluccan families. That deserves an apology, and more than that.
Entire generations still associate Moluccans with the hostage taking at the school in Bovensmilde and the train hijacking at De Punt in the 1970s, but know nothing about Moluccan history. The importance of this is shown by the insight that former Prime Minister Dries van Agt gained over the course of his life. At the time, as Minister of Justice, he violently suppressed the Moluccan actions, resulting in deaths. During a meeting with Moluccans three years before his death, it turned out that Van Agt had learned more about the history of the Moluccans later in his life and therefore had gained more understanding for their situation. He asked King Willem-Alexander to apologize to the Moluccans in a letter.
The apology was made on Sunday by Prime Minister Jetten, an important start. Making Moluccan history better known and making it part of Dutch history is an essential follow-up.
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