PHILIPSBURG--One SXM Association on Tuesday urged the country’s highest legislative body to issue an instruction to government to reject to impending December 19 apology from the Dutch government for slavery past.
The Association believes it adds insult to injury, that the Kingdom government will be sending a representative to St Maarten to “apologize” for “slavery past,” which, it is claimed, will not be accompanied by any discussion of reparations. One SXM official Dr. Rhoda Arrindell said One SXM is not against an apology. “What we are against is the process and conditions of the apology to be issued on December 19 as intended by the Dutch state because, as far as we can tell, it lacks all the variables of a valid, sincere national apology,” stated Arrindell.
She said on September 6, the Association called for an “unreserved, official and legal apology for the Netherlands’ involvement in slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. This, we believe, must follow the Dutch government’s acknowledgement of slavery as a crime against humanity,” she made clear.
The Association made the remarks during a meeting of Parliament’s Committee of Constitutional Affairs and Decolonisation called to handle an update regarding the resolution that One SXM had submitted to the legislature earlier this year as well as for a presentation from the Association on reparations. Arrindell addressed the issue of reparations during both agenda points, but zoomed in on it specifically during the agenda on reparations.
“Will the MPs, will Parliament accept the apology, that’s my question because I believe that Parliament can and has a role to play in rejecting this apology,” Arrindell told MPs at the meeting.
“Is it important? Is it too difficult? Can’t Parliament convene an urgent meeting not to accept the apology on December 19, at least, in my view, until Parliament itself is briefed on this conversation because from what we’re hearing is that Parliament doesn’t have content, doesn’t know what’s going to happen, is not sure, but can Parliament not then convene and urgent meeting and say hold off on this apology until we have further information? That would be my answer in terms of what do we want,” she explained in responding to questions from an MP after making the presentation on reparations.
“We are asking Parliament to tell government, to instruct government to reject this apology at least not now, at least not at this stage, in this content – the way it was put, and not even the way it was rushed together. Up to today, we have asked about every person that we can think of ‘why December 19,’ and we have no answer. It seems to be a very mysterious date. I’m sure somewhere, somebody has an answer to that, but we have not been able to find that. We’ve been waiting for a few hundred years for true reparatory justice. We believe that we can wait a little further especially in the context that it was mentioned that His Majesty the King [Willem Alexander] is going to do his own independent research to see how much of the goods in his possession are stolen or taken by force and it’s going to take at least three years to conclude that investigation. I would at least ask that we at least wait that long to produce a solid report on how we feel about a true and formal apology and what we think it should look like for St. Maarten.”
Arrindell said earlier in the meeting: “We have proposed that Parliament start the process with a series of debates on the issues related to the evil system of slavery and its nefarious effects on modern-day society, and that government establish a slavery and reparations commission to come up with a well-researched position and plan for government to adopt.”
“Let it be clear, reparations are not about a check. Like emancipation, reparatory justice is a process, not an event. It is about adding value to the bodies lost, and dignity to the lives of the people of this beautiful nation that we are still forging, and to be inherited by future generations. As people living in a non-independent territory, and descendants of people who fought for our emancipation, we feel it is our duty to persist in our fundamental right to self-determination and do so by constantly checking the pulse of the people until we attain it.”
In response to a question on what the apology should look like, Arrindell said it should contain some important elements such as regret, publicity, ceremony and status of the speaker and the political representation. As it relates to the content of the apology, there should be elements of acknowledgement that slavery had been a crime against humanity.
“That is step number one,” said Arrindell, adding that there should also be reckoning, naming, regret, responsibility, expression of remorse and non-repetition of current and future actions, as well as repudiation and refraining from appeals for forgiveness. As far as the procedure for the apology is concerned, this should contain further action, sincerity, further symbolic reparation, consistency where corrective actions need to be taken and material compensation.
One SXM representative Alston Lourens indicated in response to another question, that the apology should come from the King as the proclamation to free slaves came from the King.
