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Netherlands PM Rutte apologises for role of Dutch state in slavery: Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday apologised on behalf of the Dutch State for its ...
reuters.com/world/europe/dutch-pm-rutte-expected-apologise-slavery-its-consequences-2022-12-19/
Netherlands PM Rutte apologises for role of Dutch state in slavery
Quick Glance: Dutch Prime Minister Apologizes for Slavery for Centuries
  • Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte issued a formal apology on behalf of the Dutch government on Monday for more than two centuries of Dutch slavery, only months before the 160th anniversary of its abolition.

  • Dutch slave smugglers had carried about 600,000 enslaved Africans to the Americas by 1814, largely to Suriname on South America's northern coast, according to Rutte.

  • Slavery was supported, encouraged, preserved, and benefited from by the Dutch State and its representatives for centuries.

  • Slavery, according to Rutte, must be condemned "as a crime against humanity — as a criminal system which caused untold numbers of people untold suffering."