Today at 3:04 PM • Updated today at 4:44 PM
Prime Minister Rob Jetten apologized on behalf of the government on Sunday for the way in which Moluccan migrants were treated after the Indonesian war of independence. Marjet Pals (66), who is committed to the Moluccan community in her hometown of Tilburg, sees this as a first step towards recognition. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I don’t really dare to be happy because disappointment hurts so much.”
Rumors had been buzzing for days about possible apologies that our Prime Minister would make in response to the treatment of Moluccans by the Netherlands. When Indonesia became independent, the Dutch who had colonized the country fled home. Indonesian soldiers who had fought on the Dutch side or had supported the Dutch also came this way.
“My father always had a packed suitcase at home for his return trip.”
Those Indonesians who often came from the Moluccas were promised that they could soon return to their homeland. This just never happened. “My father was a KNIL soldier (Royal Dutch East Indies Army) and he always had a packed suitcase at home for the return journey,” says Marjet. These apologies come too late for her father. He died eleven years ago.
The Prime Minister apologized prior to the unveiling of the national monument on the Lloydkade in Rotterdam, in honor of the first generation of Moluccan migrants. The monument is located in a historic location in Rotterdam. The first ship arrived here in 1951, mainly carrying Moluccans. Ultimately, more than 12,500 migrants from the Moluccas archipelago arrived ashore.
“Finally there is no longer silence about the suffering that has been done to us.”
The Moluccans have been treated unfairly here, Jetten said. “Apologies for the callous and dishonorable dismissal as a soldier immediately upon arrival in our country. Apologies for the inadequate reception and housing. Apologies for not being seen and being abandoned. For the unfulfilled longing for home. For the sadness and pain in so many Moluccan families. I apologize for that today on behalf of the Dutch government,” Jetten said in an emotional room full of people from the Moluccan community.
“Of course the recognition is nice and nice,” responds Marjet from Tilburg. “We are finally seen, appreciated and respected. The suffering inflicted on us has been kept silent for so long and has therefore continued to grate for decades and several generations.”
“Until that day, I always looked at our history with distance, then I felt it and it hurt.”
Marjet only really felt that pain recently, when a monument was unveiled in Vught in April in honor of the Moluccan freedom fighter and president in exile Chris Soumokil. “Then I saw all those people together who looked like me, who felt the same heaviness, who also recognized that pain. I had to leave earlier because it made me too emotional. Until that day, I looked at our history with distance, with my mind. Now it came in and it hurt.”
Like Marjet, more Moluccans react with subdued joy. “This is a first step,” Marjet explains. “Now there must be more steps to show that this is not another empty statement to us.”
“The body of freedom fighter Soumokil must be found and brought to the Netherlands.”
Marjet already has two next steps in mind. “First of all, the body of freedom fighter Soumokil must come to the Netherlands so that his 92-year-old widow can experience this.” His body is still missing to this day. He was executed by firing squad on the Indonesian island of Obi on April 12, 1966, after which the government never released the cemetery.
John Wattilete, president of the unrecognized Republic of the South Moluccas (RMS), also called for the return of the body in Rotterdam on Sunday. “Nonja Soumokil, the widow of Christiaan Soumokil, the second president of the RMS, is 92 years old. She has been waiting for the return of her husband’s remains for 61 years. Her desire is purely humanitarian and, given her age, this situation is very urgent,” said Wattilete.
According to Marjet, a second step would be for all widows of KNIL soldiers to receive a pension for the work their men did for the Netherlands at the time.
Prime Minister Jetten understands the concerns from the Moluccan community and said the following in Rotterdam: “The apology only takes on meaning through the actions that follow.” He first wants to have thorough research done before deciding on those follow-up actions and also involve the Moluccan community.
