The King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, ordered this Tuesday (6) the opening of an independent investigation into the role of the country’s monarchy during the colonial period. The process will be conducted by historians and human rights specialists with the aim, according to the monarch, of understanding the developments and impacts of historical facts on people’s lives and communities.
“Deep knowledge of the past is essential for us to understand events as clearly and honestly as possible,” said the king. The investigation, which should last approximately three years and will not be punitive in nature, will seek to clarify events from the end of the 16th century to the present day.
The Dutch played an important role in the global slave trade during the 17th to 19th centuries. Earlier this year, the Dutch central bank issued a statement apologizing for its role in the period and pledging to fund projects to raise awareness of the slavery and mitigate the effects that the forced labor regime still has on people.
The Dutch West India Company, a company of European merchants, operated ships that trafficked about 600,000 slaves over centuries, according to data from the Dutch state. Enslaved people were violently forced to work under harsh and inhumane conditions on plantations in the Dutch overseas colonies in the Caribbean and South America.
According to the Reuters news agency, at the end of this month the Dutch government is expected to officially apologize for its role in slavery during the country’s colonial past. The State must also allocate around €200 million (US$1.1 billion) to a fund that promotes awareness of the abuses committed during the period, in addition to €27 million (R$148.5 million) to open a museum about the slavery period.
The announcement made by the Dutch king to determine the opening of the investigation was made in response to a recommendation by an advisory panel for the monarch to recognize that the transatlantic slave trade, in the 17th to 19th centuries, amounted to crimes against humanity.
With the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery next year, Surinamese advocacy groups and others are strengthening their calls for reparations for the descendants of slaves.
In April, Dutch bank ABN Amro also apologized for its involvement in the slave trade, forced labor on plantations and the trade in products originating from slavery.
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