The fact that King Willem-Alexander expressed his apologies and that Deputy Prime Minister Wopke Hoekstra did the same on Surinamese soil on July 1 on behalf of the Prime Minister “shows a will to acknowledge how great the suffering was at the time”. That is what Surinamese president Chan Santokhi said at a commemoration at the Kwakoe monument in Paramaribo.
“The king has indicated that the apologies are deeply experienced with heart and soul, and we welcome that,” said the president. He added that his government does not want to respond immediately, because he first wants an answer that is “widely supported” in his country on how the Netherlands and Suriname will proceed.
“Our response to the apology must be of just as great historical value as the apology of the Netherlands. We have no choice, because the wounds of three hundred years of slavery are not easy to heal,” said Santokhi.
deeds
Johan Roozer, chairman of the National Slavery Commemoration Committee, also thinks it is good that the king has apologized. “Only I thought, but that might be a bit premature of me, that he could have acted,” he says. Roozer hopes that the royal family will set up a fund to conduct research into the impact of the slavery past on the present.
Roozer is also happy that Hoekstra was in Suriname on July 1, Keti Koti. “Today is another important step, here in Suriname. And I think Surinamese society will appreciate that very much. Especially that piece of recognition for the people who were in the resistance and fought.”
Stiff start
The run-up to the apologies in December were “perhaps very difficult at first”, but in the meantime the Dutch government has, in his opinion, been “tactful” by entering into dialogue, says Roozer. “That has brought the parties closer together.”
Hoekstra says that he also found it a “very impressive moment” himself, “here on Surinamese soil, here in Paramaribo”. “Involving everyone in the process is perhaps the single most important thing we have to do.”