Apologies for slave trade not enough, meaningful reparations needed: Experts

Dutch prime minister apologized for his country’s role in slave trade

JOHANNESBURG 

Western countries that were involved in the slave trade and other colonial-era crimes should not only offer apologies but also pay reparations to affected countries, African academics have said.

Earlier this week, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologized on behalf of his government for the Netherlands’ role in slavery and the slave trade, reigniting a debate on the subject.

“The Netherlands in my view should pay reparations because an apology is not enough to the victims of slave trade and slavery, whether it is in South Africa or East Asia or wherever they were operating during colonialism.” Kealeboga Maphunye, a professor of African Politics at the University of South Africa, told Anadolu Agency.

Maphunye said an apology without meaningful reparations for crimes committed is just a ceremonial gesture that will not do anything to alleviate the suffering of people affected by slavery.

“For example, in South Africa ever since the Dutch arrived in 1652, we are still feeling the effects of slavery even today,” he said.

The academic argues that Africa and other developing nations are still trapped in poverty and underdevelopment because of the effects of the slave trade, oppression and colonialism.

In an apology speech on Monday, Rutte, whose country played a major role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, said: “For hundreds of years, people were made merchandise, exploited and abused in the name of the Dutch state. Today I apologize.”

Activists have criticized the Dutch prime minister for not announcing any reparation plans. According to media reports, Rutte told reporters after his speech that his government is not offering compensation to descendants of enslaved people.

But will instead set up a $212 million fund for initiatives to help tackle the legacy of slavery in the Netherlands and its former colonies.

It’s an important step to apologize

“For many years, Western countries benefited from slavery and for sure they should go further than saying sorry for their role during the slave trade,” Dr. Buchanan Ismael, a political scientist at the University of Rwanda, told Anadolu Agency.

He also said that countries that were involved in the slave trade should pay reparations for the crimes committed by their forebears.

Ismael said that offering an apology is an “important step,” but for the apologies to be respected they should be translated into actual reparations.

He said if the West only sticks to offering an apology, then it will be viewed as a gesture that was not really intended to produce any social change among the victims.

Africa should ‘move on’

Professor Lesiba Teffo from the University of South Africa said Africa should accept apologies from Western countries and move on.

“No material compensation can ever be enough for crimes of slavery, apartheid, or genocide so it’s better to accept apologies and move on,” he said.

Teffo further said that African countries should stop looking at the scars of colonial-era crimes as if there are new wounds. “This victimhood should be stopped.”

He said the Asian Tigers – Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan – also experienced colonial-era crimes but they put their past behind them and are now prospering.

“What Africa needs to develop is good governance because we have more resources compared to many others but due to corruption, we are still underdeveloped,” he said.

Many Western countries have apologized for their colonial-era crimes and slave trade.

Last year, Germany officially acknowledged that it committed “genocide” against the Herero and Nama people in today’s Namibia at the start of the 20th century.

“We will now also officially refer to these events as what they were from today’s perspective: a genocide,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said at the time.

Some 60,000 Hereros and 10,000 Nama people were murdered by German colonial troops in southwestern Africa between 1904 and 1908.

As part of the reconciliation, the German government offered €1.1 billion ($1.35 billion) in development aid to Namibia but ruled out legally binding reparations for the victims’ descendants.

Maphunye said if Western governments that were involved in slavery and colonialism do not admit to atrocities committed and support victims it will be a very difficult unequal world of global injustice.