State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen (front, left) will be in St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba on July 1, Emancipation Day. She will combine all three islands in one day. Van Huffelen and Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf (front, centre) attended the College Tour in Rotterdam on Monday to talk about the continued effects of the slavery past. (Photo: Ptah Ankh Re Photography)
THE HAGUE--Dutch State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitisation Alexandra van Huffelen will be in St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba for Emancipation Day on July 1.
The presence of the various members of the Dutch government at the official Emancipation Day ceremonies on the various Dutch Caribbean islands at the start of the Slavery Past Commemoration Year was announced on Tuesday.
State Secretary Van Huffelen will visit St. Maarten in the morning on July 1, Saba in the afternoon that day and St. Eustatius in the evening hours. Minister of Public Health, Wellbeing and Sport Erns Kuipers will be in Curaçao, Minister for Housing and Spatial Planning Hugo de Jonge in Bonaire and State Secretary of Justice and Safety Eric van den Burg in Aruba.
Almost all ministers and state secretaries will attend the Emancipation Day commemorations that are taking place throughout the Kingdom and in Suriname. Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra will be in Suriname that day.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Minister of Education, Culture and Science Robbert Dijkgraaf, Minister of Finance Sigrid Kaag, Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Hanke Bruins Slot and Minister for Legal Protection Franc Weerwind will all attend the national commemoration in Amsterdam.
As was already announced, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima will be at the national commemoration which will take place at the Amsterdam’s Oosterpark where the slavery past statue is located. The King will speak at that ceremony and it is anticipated that he will apologise for the slavery past.
Prime Minister Rutte apologised for the role of the Dutch State in the slavery past on December 19 last year. On that day, various ministers and state secretaries were on the islands for the live broadcast of Rutte’s speech and to talk with the people about the slavery past.
