User:Stoepkrijtske/Dutch apologies for the colonial past

Dutch apologies for the colonial past concern both the history of Dutch slavery and war crimes committed in the Dutch colonies. The apologies stem from a social debate in the Kingdom of the Netherlands about the role of the state and its institutional predecessors in particular – including the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, the Dutch East India Company (VOC), the Dutch West India Company (WIC), the Batavian Republic, the Kingdom of Holland and the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) – have played in the atrocities committed in the colonized areas from the 17th to the 20th century.

Apologies for the slavery past mainly focus on Dutch Guiana (especially the colony of Suriname) and the Caribbean (Curaçao and Dependencies), while apologies for colonial war crimes are generally more about the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). In the 21st century, various Dutch government agencies and representatives have apologized for various aspects of Dutch colonial rule in the West Indies, East Indies and elsewhere (such as the Cape Colony).

This article does not discuss possible actions that should result from apologies. This may concern financial compensation for next of kin, but also actions in the field of decolonial education and dealing with the colonial material and immaterial cultural heritage, including statues and street names and the interpretation of museums, new national commemorations or holidays, new rituals, etc. This is also a constant subject of social discussion.