This composition photo shows Minister Hanke Bruins Slot on the left and State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen on the right. (Suzanne Koelega photos)
THE HAGUE--The slavery past will be the focal point during the visit of Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and kingdom Relations Hanke Bruins Slot and State Secretary of Kingdom Relations and Digitisation Alexandra van Huffelen to St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Curaçao from September 6 to 10.
The visit of the minister and state secretary starts in St. Maarten on Tuesday, September 6 where they will engage in talks with residents of different backgrounds about the slavery past and the significance for the future, it was stated in a press release of the Dutch government on Friday.
Bruins Slot and Van Huffelen will also dedicate attention to the fact that five years ago, Hurricane Irma devastated St. Maarten, a major disaster that resulted in the Dutch government making half a billion euros available for a Trust Fund to reconstruct St. Maarten.
On Wednesday, September 7, the delegation will visit St. Eustatius where a walking tour through the historic centre of Oranjestad is planned. Also on the agenda is a meeting with the Statia Heritage Committee, a visit to a school and talks with youngsters about the slavery past.
During the last days of the visit in Curaçao, the minister and state secretary will engage in talks with youngsters and experts about the slavery past. They will also visit the National Archaeological-Anthropological Memory and the National Archive. The visit to Curaçao will be closed off with an encounter with artists, writers and musicians where the slavery past will be the main topic of conversation.
The objective of the visit of Bruins Slot and Van Huffelen to the three islands is to hear and see for themselves about the importance and the meaning of the Dutch slavery past, and how this still has an effect on people today.
On the request of the minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations, the Advisory Board Dialogue Group Slavery Past drafted an advice with regard to the question how to deal with the slavery past and the effects thereof in today’s society.
The Dutch government has said that it will give a formal, comprehensive response to the advice of the Advisory Board Dialogue Group Slavery Past before 2023. The experiences and accounts of the visit of the minister and state secretary to the three islands will be included in the government’s reaction.
