THE HAGUE - A delegation from the House of Representatives is traveling to Bonaire and Curaçao. The visit starts in Suriname, where the delegation will arrive on Saturday. The journey takes nine days and focuses on the slavery past.
The trip serves as preparation for the commemorative year 2023. Then it will be 150 years ago that the enslaved were free. Ten years after its official abolition in 1863.
On August 17, the delegation will attend the commemoration in honor of the Curaçao freedom fighter Tula. He led the great slave revolt in 1795, which is commemorated annually. The delegation lays a wreath.
Whether the trip is a prelude to apologies for the slavery past remains to be seen. Delegation leader Kiki Hagen of D66 says in the Volkskrant that the prosperity of the Netherlands partly stems from the slavery past, but also reports that the largest government party, coalition partner VVD, is not going along.
Those who will be part of the trip are Members of Parliament Salina Belhaj (D66), Inge van Dijk (CDA), Kati Piri (PvdA), Renske Leijten (SP), Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks), Don Ceder (CU), Marieke Koekoek (Volt) and Sylvana Simons (AT1).