(Daily Herald) THE HAGUE–The Dutch government will delegate seven ministers and state secretaries to the six Dutch Caribbean islands and to Suriname on December 19 to simultaneously pronounce formal apologies for the slavery past in the former Dutch colonies.
Minister of Public Health, Wellbeing and Sport Ernst Kuipers will do so in St. Maarten, State Secretary of Finance Marnix van Rij in St. Eustatius, State Secretary of Public Health, Wellbeing and Sport Maarten van Ooijen in Saba, State Secretary of Justice and Security Eric van der Burg in Aruba, State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitisation Alexandra van Huffelen in Curaçao and Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Karien van Gennip to Bonaire.
Minister for Legal Security Franc Weerwind will pronounce the formal apologies for the slavery past in Suriname on December 19, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will do the same in the Netherlands on that day. The delegated ministers and state secretaries will pronounce the formal apologies in a speech.
The news of the formal apologies, first by the Dutch broadcasting company NOS and later confirmed by the Dutch government, announcement came on the day that 47 years ago, on November 25, 1975, Suriname seceded from the Dutch Kingdom and became a completely independent country.
