AMSTERDAM--"Slavery de-humanises." Historic words of a Dutch Prime Minister at the yearly commemoration of the abolition of slavery in Amsterdam Sunday.
Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte minced no words in denouncing the trade in human beings which he typified as "stealing a human being." "Slavery takes away something from people, that belongs only to those people. It snatches away the freedom from an individual to make his own choices," he said.
Slavery reduces people to means of production, said Rutte. "It puts the monetary benefits of a limited group above the human decency of many. So yes: slavery de-humanises. We can only distance ourselves from that in the most powerful terms."
The Prime Minister acknowledged that The Netherlands was late in abolishing slavery. "It took until 1863 that slavery was banned by The Netherlands. For too long slavery was common in our country and other parts of the Kingdom. Something normal. Too long unjust arguments have won over the only argument that should have counted: namely that every person is the owner of his or her own life."
Slavery and slave trade could only exist because there were people on all continents who made a profit and kept the system going, said Rutte. "But that joint responsibility doesn't take away our duty to give account about this black page from our history. We cannot and should not walk away from these facts. Because of Dutch slave traders, large groups of people and their descendants were forced to live in restriction."
The Prime Minister pointed out that the slavery past is important for the identity of large groups in Dutch society and that it is part of the special historic relation of The Netherlands, the Dutch Caribbean islands and Suriname. "That doesn't always move by itself, but it is part of our lives. You don't brush that off, but you acknowledge that and enclose it in your heart."
According to Rutte, 1863 was not only an end, but also a new beginning. The beginning of the emancipation, and active citizenship for the slaves of that time, and their descendants. He lamented that until this day, there are millions of people who still live in slavery in Africa, India, Mexico, China, Eastern Europe, but also in The Netherlands, people who have been the victims of human traffickers without a conscience. "It is up to us to keep fighting against all forms of slavery here and abroad," he said.
Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan recognised the role of the largest city in The
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