Dutch king apologizes for the monarchy’s role in global slave trade

Dutch King Willem-Alexander lays a wreath at the slavery monument Saturday after apologizing for the royal house’s role in slavery in a speech greeted by cheers and whoop.

Remko de Waal/AP

The King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, on Saturday apologized for his ancestors’ role in perpetuating a global slave trade that saw hundreds of thousands of colonized peoples trafficked away from their homes to work on enterprises that enriched the Dutch state.

“Today, on this day of remembrance, I ask forgiveness for the clear failure to act in the face of this crime against humanity,” the monarch said.

Willem-Alexander, whose family has ruled over parts of the Netherlands for more than two centuries, was speaking at the 160th commemoration of the end of slavery in his country and its once widespread colonial territories, that ranged from Indonesia to the Caribbean.

He joins leaders across Europe that have expressed contrition for their respective nations’ enslavement policies that for some continued well into the second half of the 19th century.

Late last year the long-standing Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, also apologized during a speech at the country’s National Archives. The apology came amid a growing sense of frustration among those descended from the roughly 600,000 enslaved people who were transported to Dutch possessions, particularly in the Caribbean, including Suriname and Curaçao.

Many of the descendants of enslaved people now live in the Netherlands as Dutch citizens.

Of the activities enacted on behalf of the Dutch state over…