MEDIA ADVISORY – From Apology to Action: Response to the Netherlands’ Apology for African Enslavement

On 19 December 2022, The Kingdom of the Netherlands issued an apology for African enslavement, which was delivered by Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague. The CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC) welcomes this statement which it views as long overdue to the victims of the trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved Africans, chattel slavery in the Caribbean and their descendants. However, the Prime Minister did not commit nor signal his government’s intention to enter into reparations negotiations with CARICOM, Africa and the Indigenous Caribbean communities, who suffered genocide and enslavement at the hands of the Dutch state and its agents for over 300 years. To this end, the CRC is keen to engage the Netherlands government on next steps towards a mutually satisfactory outcome.

The CRC, since 2013, has been actively pursuing reparations for Native Genocide and African Enslavement, from the former colonizing nations of Europe, namely the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

The CRC, in collaboration with the Centre for Reparations Research at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), will host a virtual media engagement to address the Netherlands’ apology.

Members of the regional media are cordially invited to participate. Kindly see the details below:

Event: Virtual Media Engagement –Response to the Netherlands’ Apology for African Enslavement

Date: Wednesday, 21 December, 2022

Time: 12 Noon (EST); 1:00 PM (AST); 2:00 PM (Suriname); 5:00 PM (GMT); 6:00 PM (CET)

Programme Speakers:

• Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Chairman, CARICOM Reparations Commission and Vice-Chancellor, The University of the West Indies

• Mr. Armand Zunder, Chairman, National Reparations Committee of Suriname

• Mr. Eric Phillips, Chairman, Guyana Reparations CommitteeProfessor Verene Shepherd, Director, Centre for Reparations Research at The University of the Indies

• Dr. Hilary Brown, Programme Manager, Culture and Community Development, CARICOM Secretariat (Moderator)

Click here to register to participate in this conversation.

· N.B. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing credentials for joining the virtual meeting room, which allows you to pose your questions directly to the panel.

· Live broadcast via www.uwitv.org, Facebook live and UWItv’s channels on Flow EVO as well as CARICOM’S YouTube and Facebook Channels

· For further details, please contact: donrojas636@gmail.com or uwitv@uwi.edu

Source: CARICOM TODAY