“We Are Sorry”: Dutch PM Apologises for 250 Years of the Netherlands’ Involvement in Slavery
- Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has apologised on behalf of his government for the Netherlands’ historical role in slavery and the slave trade
- He said the government would establish a fund for initiatives to help tackle the legacy of slavery in the Netherlands and its former colonies
- The Dutch first became involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade in the late 1500s and became a major trader in the mid-1600s
Mark Rutte, Dutch prime minister, on behalf of Netherlands has apologised for the country's 250-year role in trans Atlantic slave trade.
Specifically, the apology was tendered to its former colonies. The colonies include Suriname, the Caribbean island of Curacao, South Africa, Indonesia among others primarily to work on their sugar plantations, Time.com reports.
Source: Twitter
Slave trade was banned in the country in the 19th century, The Morning Call added.
In his apology, the Dutch prime minister said.
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“Today, I apologise. For centuries, the Dutch state and its representatives have enabled and stimulated slavery and have profited from it."
“It is true that nobody alive today bears any personal guilt for slavery. However, the Dutch state bears responsibility for the immense suffering that has been done to those that were enslaved and their descendants.
“We, living in the here and now, can only recognise and condemn slavery in the clearest terms as a crime against humanity.”
Young man causes stir online after wearing tie that reminds people of slavery, photos go viral
Recall that Legit.ng had reported that a young man has taken fashion to another level by putting on a tie that looks like a rope and many people have shared their opinions on it.
Taking to Facebook to share photos of the young man, a Nigerian poet identified as Amarachi Attamah wrote:
"What is this please. Fashion? What's your view on this?"
In one of the photos, the young man knotted the red coloured tie on his white shirt and black pant. Another photo shows him in a suit as he rocked his rope-like tie. Facebook users soon flooded the comment section of the post to share their thoughts on it.
Last survivor of slaves taken from Africa has finally been discovered
In another report, the last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade has finally been identified in the person of Matilda McCrear years after the belief that the last person was Redoshi Smith.
According to the BBC, a researcher at the Newcastle University called Hannah Durkin previously indicated that the last of the survivors was Smith who was captured in Africa in the 19th Century and brought to the US. But further works have revealed she was not the last to die.
Smith died in 1937 and Durkin has now found out that a woman named Matilda McCrear who was also enslaved had lived until three years after 1937.
Matilda died in Selma, Alabama, in January 1940, at the age of 83 - and her rebellious life story was the last living link with slaves abducted from Africa. It is reported that Matilda had been captured by slave traders in West Africa at the age of two, arriving in Alabama in 1860 onboard one of the last transatlantic slave ships.
Source: Legit.ng
