King Willem-Alexander with Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Photo: Reuters
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3074460/dutch-king-willem-alexander-apologises-indonesia-excessive Southeast Asia
Dutch King Willem-Alexander apologises to Indonesia for ‘excessive violence’ during independence struggle
- During a state visit to Jakarta, King Willem-Alexander addressed ‘the pain and sorrow of the families affected’ by mass killings in the 1940s
- The Dutch government in 2013 publicly apologised to Indonesia but the king’s apology was the first by a Dutch monarch
Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima during a visit at the Ereveld Menteng Pulo Dutch cemetery in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: EPA
Dutch King Willem-Alexander apologised to Indonesia on Tuesday for “excessive violence” during the former colony’s independence struggle in the 1940s.
The king made the remarks during a state visit to the country with Queen Maxima after a ceremony with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in the capital Jakarta.
Indonesia declared its independence on August 17, 1945 following a brief wartime occupation by the Japanese and several hundred years as a Dutch colony.
“The past cannot be erased, and will have to be acknowledged by each generation in turn,” the king said in a joint statement.
In the years after the independence proclamation “a painful separation followed that cost many lives … I would like to express my regret and apologise for excessive violence on the part of the Dutch in those years,” he added. “I do so in the full realisation that the pain and sorrow of the families affected continue to be felt today.”
In 2013, the Dutch government publicly apologised to Indonesia for mass killings by its army in the 1940s war of independence, in the first general apology for all executions.
But the apology on Tuesday was a first by a Dutch monarch, according to two sources, including a senior Indonesian government official. The Dutch embassy in Jakarta declined to comment.
Previously, the Dutch government announced compensation to the widows of those who died in mass killings. But not all have received funds, according to the Committee for Dutch Honour Debts.
“Our country suffered a lot from Dutch crimes and they have to pay for what they have done,” said Jeffry Pondaag, the committee’s Netherlands-based chairman.
Also on Tuesday, the Dutch royals said they were “deeply saddened” at news of a fatal boat crash that killed seven Indonesian government employees and injured 20 others, including two Dutch embassy staff.
The accident happened as officials secured an area in Indonesia’s section of Borneo island where the royal couple were to visit this week.
One boat carrying park rangers crashed into another carrying members of the presidential guard corps in a river in Palangkaraya on Borneo island on Monday, said Yusuf Latief, spokesman for the national search and rescue agency.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic boat accident, yesterday, on the Sebangau River,” Willem-Alexander said in a speech before the president. “Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and with the injured.”
Additional reporting by dpa