‘The committee wants to delve into the history of slavery in preparation for the great commemoration year in 2023,’ says delegation leader Kiki Hagen (D66). Slavery was abolished in 1863, but it wasn’t until 1873 that the enslaved were free, which will be 150 years ago next year.
The House Committee on the Interior has organized several hearings in recent months and will visit the Frederiksdorp plantation in Suriname and Fort Amsterdam on Curaçao. Discussions are planned in Paramaribo with historians from the Anton de Kom University and the Surinamese National Committee for Commemoration of Slavery. ‘But we also want to talk to the people there,’ says Hagen. ‘To learn how the slavery past still affects the current generations and what impact it still has today.’ Attention will also be paid to the period after slavery, when contract workers from the former British Indies and Java had to continue working on the plantations under appalling conditions.
Furthermore, meetings are scheduled with the Surinamese president Chan Santokhi and dignitaries from the Caribbean parts of the kingdom. After the visit to Suriname, the MPs will travel on to Curaçao where they will attend the commemoration in honor of the Curaçao freedom fighter Tula on 17 August. The enslaved Tula led a major uprising on the island in 1795. He was horribly mutilated and murdered by the colonial regime. Hagen will lay a wreath on behalf of the House of Representatives during the commemoration.
The trip is not only special because of the theme, it is also the first time in thirteen years that a parliamentary delegation visits the former colony of Suriname. The working visits ended after 2009. Political ties with Suriname deteriorated when former army leader Desi Bouterse became president. After Santokhi’s election as president, the relationship between both parliaments and governments has been restored, which led to a visit by the Surinamese president to the Netherlands last year.
VVD does not travel with you
Whether the Chamber trip is a prelude to an apology for the Dutch slavery past, Hagen leaves open. ‘We have to become aware that a large part of our wealth comes from our slavery past.’
Expressions of regret for the dark pages in Dutch history are sensitive in the House and the coalition. D66 and ChristenUnie are in favor of apologies for the slavery past. This is more sensitive for the CDA and to a greater extent the VVD. Rutte said in 2020 that apologies can ‘further polarize society’.
The Prime Minister’s party is not part of the delegation. VVD MP Pim van Strien informs himself from his holiday address through a spokesperson about the slavery past in various ways. ‘A 9-day trip seemed to me to be of insufficient added value at the moment.’ Members of parliament Salima Belhaj (D66), Inge van Dijk (CDA), Kati Piri (PvdA), Renske Leijten (SP), Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks), Don Ceder (CU), Marieke Koekoek (Volt) and Sylvana Simons (At 1).
Delegation leader Hagen does not want to comment on the absence of the largest ruling party. ‘This subject is typical of the Netherlands’ past. But it is up to each party itself to register for the working visit.’