President Chandrikapersad Santokh said the €200 million pledged by the Dutch government to subsidize social initiatives in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for its role in the slave trade should not be considered as the end of the process.
“This is just part of the slavery past,” Santokhi stated after meeting with outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the margins of the recently concluded European Union-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (EI-CLLAC) summit in Brussels.
“The colonial past must be addressed as soon as possible.” “We also have indigenous people and descendants of indentured servants,” he noted.
He stated that during their brief discussion with Rutte, they discussed the future of the bilateral partnership in light of the new political environment in the Netherlands.
“The relationship between the two countries will continue unaffected,” Santokhi added, emphasizing Suriname’s “fruitful and bilateral” cooperation with the Netherlands aimed at preserving democracy, security, and socioeconomic progress.
“We should all give more substance to the relationship between Suriname and the Netherlands,” he added.
Santokhi remarked of King Willem-Alexander’s formal apologies for his country’s role in the slave trade on July 1: “The Netherlands has been a trendsetter.”
“I am hopeful that other countries will follow,” he remarked.
“I believe it is a journey that will not end at €200 million, with reparations being a part of it.” According to Santokhi, King Willem-Alexander has been invited to visit the Caribbean country, and “hopefully he will be present on July 1 next year.”
The Declaration issued on Tuesday following the two-day EU-CELAC meeting stated that “we acknowledge and deeply regret the untold suffering inflicted on millions of men, women, and children as a result of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.”
“We reiterate our full support for the related principles and elements contained in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, including the recognition that slavery and the slave trade, including the transatlantic slave trade, were appalling tragedies in the history of humanity not only because of their abhorrent barbarism, but also in terms of their magnitude, organized nature, and especially their negation of the essence of the victims, and that slavery and the slave trade, including the transatlantic slave trade, were appalling tragedies in the history of humanity CELAC also mentioned the CARICOM ten-point Plan for Reparatory Justice.”
Santokhi stated that during their meeting with Rutte, they reviewed King Willem-Alexander’s promises and apologies, including the Makandra project, through which the Netherlands provides technical support to Suriname.
Santokhi stated that conversations with Dutch officials about the challenges people face when traveling to Suriname via the Netherlands would take place in the following days.
