The dispute over an apology for slavery

The Socialist Party in the Netherlands has demanded that Prime Minster Jan-Peter Balkenende apologises for the Dutch nation's role in slavery during his upcoming visit to Suriname, a former Dutch colony. The Dutch political weekly Elsevier criticises the proposal: "Any comment made by the Prime Minister on this subject could have undesirable legal consequences. 'Relatives' will start queuing up for 'compensation'. ... Without doubt, trading in slaves was an inhuman system of economic exploitation. However, ... Dutch slave traders accounted for only five percent of the transatlantic slave trade, and Africans played a key role in rounding up and delivering slaves. Besides, slaves were not treated nearly as badly as many believe, simply because of their economic value, and there were some slaves who later went on to keep their own slaves. ... But [socialist MP] Harry van Bommel prefers to bow to the pressure of the militant victim mentality of some Surinamese. He prefers to moralise rather than take historical facts seriously. He would rather punish his own country than tell these incessant moaners to finally stop their complaining."

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