Netherlands King Apologizes for Colonial-Era Slavery

Dutch King Willem-Alexander has apologized for his country's historic involvement in slavery and its ongoing repercussions, as the Netherlands on Saturday begins an official event to mark 150 years since the end of slavery in Dutch colonies.

The King issued his apology during a speech marking the event.

"Today I'm standing here in front of you as your king and as part of the government. Today I am apologising myself," Willem-Alexander said. "And I feel the weight of the words in my heart and my soul."

The king commissioned a study into the exact role played by the Dutch royal family, the Orange-Nassau, in slavery in the Netherlands.

He asked for forgiveness "for the clear failure to act in the face of this crime against humanity."

Thousands of descendants of the former Dutch colony of Suriname and the Dutch overseas territories of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao attend the festivities in Amsterdam.

"That is important, especially because the Afro-Dutch community considers it important," Linda Nooitmeer, chairman of the National Institute of Dutch Slavery History and Legacy, told the NOS public broadcaster. "It is important for processing the history of slavery."

Last December, Rutte apologized for slavery on behalf of the Dutch government.

Beginning in the 17th century, the Netherlands grew to become one of the major European colonial powers and was responsible for about 5% of the transatlantic slave trade.

About 600,000 slaves were taken from Africa to colonies in the Americas, and many Javanese and Balinese were enslaved and transported to South Africa under Dutch colonial rule.

The Netherlands officially abolished slavery on July 1, 1863. However, slaves continued to work on plantations in the Dutch Caribbean for another decade before abolition was implemented.