That war was lost, Indonesia became independent in 1949. The Moluccan KNIL members came to the Netherlands in 1951 on a military order. There they were partly housed in, for example, former Camp Westerbork, which was called Kamp Schattenberg in those years. They were not allowed to work for the first few years, were no longer paid and were also stateless. The stay would be temporary, just six months. The suitcases were still packed, ready to go. But it all turned out differently. The temporary stay became permanent. The Moluccans felt abandoned by the Netherlands.
The children of that first generation experienced their parents’ traumas up close. This caused a lot of anger among them towards the Dutch government. In the end, this anger led to some armed actions, such as at De Punt. In the 1970s there were also actions in Wijster (train hijacking), Bovensmilde (primary school hostage) and Assen (provincial house hostage).
The RMS activist Junus Ririmasse was an artist in his later life. He made paintings and was a sculptor. Among other things, the meter-high monument at the Moluccan community center Molo Oekoe and a monument at the Moluccan church in Bovensmilde are his work. For Ririmasse, the Moluccan identity has always been central to his work.
Ririmasse was a valued member of the Moluccan community in Bovensmilde. Prior to the funeral, there was a guard of honor with flags in the Moluccan district. Dozens of people then paid their last respects.
