The Dutch Prime Minister has apologised to Indonesia for what is described as ‘systematic and widespread extreme violence’ used by the Dutch army during Indonesia’s War of Independence.
Mark Rutte says the government takes responsibility for the war crimes committed in the former colony.
Al Jazeera’s @Victoria Gatenby reports.
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Since dutch colonized indonesia they become “golden age era” by their “VOC” but its okay, its the past 😹
I am a grandson of an Indonesian war veteran who fought in the independence war (my grandpa survived the war unlike around 100 men of his unit). I am proud to say that my grandfather was one of the heroes for Indonesia yet my father and mother went to study and acquired their postgrad degree in the Netherlands and I was born there too.
Personally I have mixed feelings about the apology as I also gain benefit from the Netherlands but I dont think these apology will change anything that has happened or will happen significantly.
I just hope that if the Dutch government is truly sincere about the apology they will lend a hand on helping Indonesia with its problems to create a better future for all of us although it will never change what already happened.
@Yui W thats why I have mixed feelings for it….the apology is good and appreciated but it wont mount to anything if it ends with a mere apology.
A good gesture, but almost meaningless as it is.
@Malik Rahman Well, it is a very small step. Relationships between people and countries will continue to evolve. Hopefully the future is heading for the good. That’s all I can say.
Kakek gw juga veteran angkatan Darat ,kami memaafkan belanda, Tapi kita tidak melupakan tindakan mereka,tindakan mereka bisa akan terus di lanjutkan oleh anak cucu mereka.jadi waspada harus
yea it’s all bullshit
No sincere words in western politics.. Dutch must have some motive…
If they’re really sincere it shouldn’t stop at lip service only..
They must pay reparations..
They must also return all the historical heritage in their museums that they stole..
The Netherlands makes an apology statement. But they forget to force Indonesia to take over and pay all of the Dutch-Indies debt and dutch military campaign in 1946-1949. Just a hypocrite statement.
Good job Dutch government.
Japan committed far worse crimes and still deny most atrocities. There can be no closure.
Apologize is another one now paid compensation worth of trillion dollar you steal from us
It’s time UK the leeches, should also appologise to the Globe for slavery and attrocities. They must return all the wealth they looted from poor countries
These flaccid ‘apologies’ of genocide are ubiquitous among many Western and European nations only reinforce the belief that colonization was/is just.
Apology is not enough, we want more !
@Oliva We did it decades ago. Are you feeling mad imperialist dog ?
@Oliva indonesia’s former president already did that long time ago during the reign of mr Gusdur, see !! You olivia just a psycho, a maniac who’s supporting colonialism, you are moron
@Serbswaves So? Doesn’t matter if it was decades ago. You sir are a hypocrite.
@bitTorrenter Yes he does
@Lorenzo Smit Indonesia must colonize Holland then
1 millions apologize is never enough.. But let us move on..
How about giving back what you robbed from Indonesia?!!
@Oliva Tell that to your Aussie buddy!!
@Oliva your opinion doesn’t matter lmao
@Habibi Hibana sooooo what
@Moonchild no im Canadian
@Oliva tell that to australia 😋
shame on you dutch
Shame on you
Hey Marky… are you also going to apologize to the thousands of sick and dying in 4 or 5 months, and all because you lifted all the Covid safety measures this week?
Forget the past, let’s stand together towards a better future. Indonesia is a nation that is easy to forgive.
To forget the past is to condem society to repeat it. Do not forget it but do not hold it, the hate and bias mentally, within you only to cause you to repeat it. Learn from it and do better this time and use it as a means to celebrate all life and respect it.
Forget? BIG NO 🤮👎🏻
Show me a successful culture or country that has a squeaky-clean history.
Apologies are not necessary. I feel like they are an embarrassment.
And financial reparations to ancestors is a ridiculous notion (except, I suppose, for people reaping rewards for their descendants’ suffering).
Indonesia motto, we forgive but not forget ✌🏼
Who will forgive who? They must pay reparations..
@Looking to the Horizon yes its thrue
No one cares
@Looking to the Horizon agreed, at least now they tried bring back the stolen our artefacts etc
Deep in my heart & head….. I honor, with you Sir & All…….. But those will happen over and over again all of the globe …during human history … Till the end of the world……….what d y think? .
Forgive not forgotten. Dutch govt should give and facilitate more scholarships (if possible thousands) for Indonesian students studying abroad for free at the expense of Dutch people
@CAPTAIN HOOK again my point stand, your way of thinking is the reason why hate will never stop. Did an apology and return the wealth stolen so hard to do ? And I saying this about everyone, not just dutch.
@CAPTAIN HOOK so you refuse to do the right thing just because other don’t ? You just proof my point then
@Đức Anh Refusing to do the right thing? The Netherlands is one of the few countries that has apologized and compensated. When have Arabs, Africans, Turks, and others apologized, let alone compensated?
@Đức Anh The point is that we do the right thing while others do not. You are either biased or very narrow minded
@CAPTAIN HOOK then screw other, you need other to do the right thing before you do it ?
Does this have connection with the G20 activities currently taking place in our country? We accept his apology as long as the Dutch government increases the quota for the Orange Tulip Scholarship for the Indonesian students 🙏🙏😀
Whoops. My bad!
Not sorry only Dutch need more than 7 trillion dollars to Indonesia
Good joke
Ottomans used extreme violence in Europe taking millions of Europeans into slavery
Turkey never apologized to Europeans.
USA will be doing the same in the future for war crimes yet to be declassified in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya. History will judge USA and its NATO accomplices very harshly.
Sorry is a sorry word act like you mean it, Fix any problem you caused.
Now pay up!!!!
Colonial massacres, genocides and violence in their history is many so called western civilizations’ source of wealth that they enjoy today.
R E P A R A T I O N S
Stop apologising for doing what every country has done from the dawn of time.
🇯🇵 Truly was polite Enough to invading 🇮🇩 aswell?
The things is Crime of 🇯🇵 Colonialism the same with Austrian Failed painter’s man..
Bangladesh still due an apology from pakistan for the 1971 genocide
lol dutch wealth 80% came frome indonesian slavery
Dutch also brought enslaved Indonesians and west Africans to work on a cape colony when they colonized South Africa . Van Riebeeck wanted to enslave the locals who had a year early rescued a Dutch ship and hosted its people with great hospitality. He read their kindness as weakness . The company refused his request to enslave locals because they still felt indebted to how they had not only rescued their employees but kept them in great hospitality till Van Riebeevk came to get them so they approved Van Riebeeck to bring slaves from west Africa and Botavia , later indentured servants from India were brought too .
They also took slaves from Madagascar !
dont forget they sell slave to us too on suriname
violent … dutch ppl with gun and tank vs indonesian with sharp bamboo spear bow … and both where violence … what a cute statement
the dutch dont wanna put any of their politician and army man on the Den Haag international criminal court. it is a casino, the house will never lost
How about indonesia does the same for west papua and east timor?
The Netherlands only bequeathed a debt to Indonesia of 4.3 billion guilders to redeem independence from the Netherlands and millions of lives were more victims of the cruel genocide of the Dutch army. after 350 years of seizing property during the Dutch East Indies era. without the Dutch East Indies, the Netherlands is just a small country without producing anything.
until now the debt from the KMB round table conference agreement still exists. from the VOC era and the Dutch East Indies era how much property was seized. Indigenous people only become servants in their own country. The Dutch colonizers were demons in human form.
What do you expect from white coIonizers? 😀
@Syed Mohiuddin were the moors that invaded Europe native to Europe? Do you know where the Kingdom of Orange is built on? The Dutch are not slaves anymore. Times have changed. Every action has a consequence
The purpose of the Dutch was initially trade, after a long time wanted to dominate because of greed for wealth. The Netherlands is a poor country that has no natural resources. The Indonesian people were made a slave nation, so they became servants in their own country. the Dutch in spree, seizing wealth from the Dutch East Indies. The Indonesian nation is a warrior with blood, tears and treasure for our free homeland. and in the end we expelled the losers of the Dutch nation. Thank God, there are no more Dutch people who control the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) until now. they have been expelled back to their home country of the Netherlands.
@Hadi Purboratno Is the Netherlands a poor country? Anyone with a little bit of sense knows that the Netherlands is far from poor. You sound more jealous than anything, and to be honest, I have many Indonesian friends, and they feel ashamed when they see how their own people in Indonesia have to live.
your country is rich, the result of robbery, from the VOC and Dutch East Indies era. At that time the natives became the lower class, so the white Dutch assistants. very Racist treats, like pets.
they see Indonesia in the future will be great.
can forgive but we can’t forget
Which war? Did the indenesians came to Netherlands? Did they kill Dutch people at their lands?
It was the Dutch who went to Indonesia, and colonized it, and when people resisted being colinized? They call it a war? That’s not war.
@CAPTAIN HOOK No they did NO T ! Remember all of North Africa which was either Jewish or Christian !! The same goes for the Levant region present day Lebanon Syria and Palestine ,The religion was adopted voluntarily Not by force !!!
@guleet Muhammad exterminated three Jewish tribes in what is now Saudi Arabia. This act by Mohammed is mentioned in all his biographies and is proudly passed on throughout the Islamic world.
@guleet Christianity was never spread peacefully either, but Jesus never ordered any campaign or war against infidels. Muhammad ordered many, especially in the last ten years of his life.
@M P ESMAIL it’s obvious you don’t even know what you’re talking about just shut up
@CAPTAIN HOOK you are out of this topic. this is indonesia not medina not pakistan or morocco. we are talking about indonesia and you talking about middle east. i will never talk about native american when someone talk about indonesia. because it will make me look so stupid and out of topic.
Dutch should compensate for each life they killed in Blood money, same amount as they would have demanded if a Dutch national was Killed by an Indonesian.
Above the blood money, they should compensate for the destruction of land and infrastructure
The mass crimes committed by the Dutch were only in Aceh, which the Dutch could not subdue. Only Aceh remained. Apart from Aceh, the Dutch had mastered it. They only lived in Aceh yet.
Bullshit, The Sultan of Aceh literally signed a document that stated that the Sultanate of Aceh surrenders to the Kingdom of Netherlands after they were defeated by combined Dutch and Marsose forces
@Themsky Who are the Marsorse ?
@guleet traitors, local men who fought againts their own people, they were trained and supported by the dutch.
@guleet Elite KNIL troop that was created to fight the guerrilla threat and its members consisted of Dutch and local people.
Who cares, When is indonesia going to aplogise for the genocide it commited against the Papua population . O yes you forgot about that one didnt you .
Which genocide ?.
@Sakti Pardano dude’s obviously an australian, better just stay away from him and let them dead drunk drinking beer in bali.
Indonesia use systematic and widespread extreme violence on papuans. Netherlands shouldn’t apologize.
But It was the Netherlands who gave West Papua to the Indonesians ! So that their will never be peace !! I mean why did they give west Papua to Indonesia instead of giving it to Papua New guinea ?
stuur de kolonisten naar de hel !!
Indonesia
Bucher…..All Europeans are Butcher as British + Adolf Hitler.
But still they are human rights defenders like France Dutch America
My former coIonizers 😍❤️
Give more economy aid to my island nation ( Sumatra Raya ) such as Agriculture development , Renewable energy plant , Social Housing project in big cities , New Public school building and New Public university building and its facility in Sumatra island ( including
Riau islands state and Babel islands state ) Big Dutch companies should invest in sumatra island , many dutch women breeeding cute mixed kids with native men in sumatra island during dutch invasion lol 🤣
Indonesia is projected to be the world’s 4th biggest economy and be one of the world’s major powers so the Dutch want good relations with Indonesia.
Gold, oil, palm oil and gas. Ehhehehehe
Those Dutch! Better for Indonesia to stick with its true friends! Its neighbors!
Yeah, they need to play good friend. Eat the pride! Tricky Dutch!!
Ya kan? Hati-hati biasanya ada maunya 😒
@oxv bukan biasanya, tapi EMANG PASTI ABSOLUTELY ADA MAUNYA. All the situations, multidimensional crisis now udah ngarah k potensi “war tendency”,,,, jd mulai banyak yg coba2 collab sana sini.
Maafin boleh, tapi inget betapa brengs*knya mereka saat kita boleh merdeka dengan syarat wajib bayar semua hutang2 perang mereka juga. Silahkan cek buku2 sejarah, jurnal2 artikel sejarah Indonesia. Stay alert.
This b@$ch says violence is normal.
Did they need something from Indonesia ? What’s it ,natural resources ? Strange.
Forest And Minerals !
Yakin saya butuh sesuatu pasti ini Belanda, tumben soalnya, rantai pasokan barang² di dunia pecah kah, atau karena pengen berbisnis, sangat aneh.
Perasaan Belanda minta maaf mulu, hmm?
Habis digebukin terus dibaek²in, o gitu caranya, orang Indonesia kalo sampai jumawa, bisa goblok jadinya,
oleh karena itu mereka minta maaf kita anggep biasa aja ok 😀.
War is nasty and people can judge you hard 50 or 70 years later with there views living in modern cities with everything they need and with a western education.
Rakyat Indonesia tidak dendam, tapi Indonesia ingat itu 😈👿
Jelas karena generasi kita bertahun-tahun dibuat menderita oleh mereka
Sekarang liat! Anak-anak muda zaman sekarang tinggi-tinggi
They still manage to exploit former colonies
After Dutch Apologise to Indonesia well Indonesia must apologise East Timor
Indonesia 1800 to 1945 forgive but not to forget .
1500 an pak… bukan 1800
East Timor: Ahem! Do you forget us, Indonesia?
Australia is probably laughing at this
😂 kasian kali ditipu sama aussie
We have apologized to Timor Leste during the Gus Dur administration. So educated yourself.
VOC ( Nederland company) became the richest company in human history because they looted, robbed and stole Indonesia’s resources. It’s just a little of their cruelty and brutality during Ducth colonialization. They genocide and did apartheid by dividing the class of society at that time and putting the natives as the lowest class society.
Even after we declared independent, they denied it and attacked us with it’s Allies. They didn’t want recognize Indonesia Independence until 1949.
Even after Independence, they still bequeath and burden us with their fantastic debt. How poor Indonesia at that time. Even today, there are so many Indonesian who unaware about this and also Dutch mixed descendients who are being proud about the Colonialization that their ancestors did.
It’s ok, we Indonesian don’t think about it anymore. We focus on the future now, maybe in goodwill give our students study there for free?
Only apology ?? After so many people suffer???
We are young generation we not forget and will always remember dutch crime in our country.. 👊
Yaa he might be 50% javanese but he spend all of his live in rich country that can provide him better education, better healthcare system, good nutrision everyday that has been shove to his mouth by the colonized country like indonesia… How dare he said that its normal to have violance in a war when the netherland brought guns and bombs and indonesia just have rocks and bamboo to fight back ??.
The past is the past let it go
Waiting for Japan..
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The words from the Dutch govt are welcome. But what are they going to do to in terms of restitution? Even the optics of Rutte’s apology are poor. Instead of standing behind a podium, go meet the relatives of victims and say it in person.
Give us eu citizenship. Will accept apologu
Why do you want to go to the EU?
As an Indonesian im waiting same apologize from japan government
Visit Indonesia and Apologize directly to the people
tinggal jepang yg blm minta maaf nih
Jepang udh Lama minta maafnya…….
Yang blm cuma inggeris
Dutch government and Hitler is similar, dutch made a holocaust to Indonesian people along their colonialisme…why international council of justice did not sentence the Dutch government and his veterans as a war criminal? Or ICJ is paid by the Dutch?
Dutch colonial base, support Russia from Indonesia
What about before 1945??
only just sorry? are you kidding me?
VOC is a Dutch company that became the most valuable company all the time, they have taken natural wealth in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) for 350 years and have made $7.9 Trillion by monopolizing the market, while the Indonesian people have to be forced to work like slaves and killed by them.
even when the end of Dutch rule in Indonesia they still demanded 4 billion guilders from Indonesia for the recognition of sovereignty that they gave us, to this day there are still many priceless treasures from our kingdoms that they stole and proudly displayed in their country with that booty, you bull$hit ba$tard say sorry.
Mengapa negara kecil spt belanda bisa menjajah negara besar spt Indonesia beratus tahun?…krn belanda memperalat raja2, sultan2 dan bangsawan di Indonesia mengexploitasi SDA dan SDM Indonesia. semuanya dikasih gulden. Jadi siapa sebenarnya penjajah Indonesia?…ya orang Indonesia sendiri dan itu kita rasakan sampai saat ini.
Jikalau ada raja2, sultan2 dan bangsawan2 yg melawan perang thp belanda kala itu jumlahnya sangat sedikit sekali. jd untuk apa belanda minta maaf toh tdk ada manfaatnya.
Are they paying compensation? Anyone under trial even after the death ? Colonist people…
Awas tipu daya Belanda, mereka butuh Indonesia dan berteman pasti ada maunya tidak mungkin tidak, waspada saja…
Canada apologized to those buried in unmarked graves. Australia apologized to those indigenous people being wiped out through assimilation program. US apologized to indians. Dutch apologized to Indonesians. Wow, those are “good examples.” One country can go anywhere to butch locals and then apologize.
TOLD YA’ BETTER A LIVING COWARD THAN A DEAD DODO HERO…. AT LEAST COWARD LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO C C KARMAMA DOING GOOD JOBS LIKE THIS FLYING DUTCHMEN APOLOGIES TO DODO WAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAA NOW EVEN DODO ALSO CAN’T SAY HATE SPEECH TO CHINESE MINORITIES WAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA 🤪🤪 CRAZY BUT GUESS WAT I’LL GET THE LAST LAUGH, SUCKERBERG
sorry is not enough, return all ancient treasures and all Indonesian wealth that was stolen by the Dutch during the colonial period
1:32 I bet this mtf doesn’t gonna say the same thing for what Nazis did to his country and say “iTs nORmaL”…
I don’t know what people who normalize violence and war get called…
Oh, called extremist, isn’t it?
Bagaimana mereka menembak seorang ibu Yang tidak memiliki apa2
Sembari memohon ibu tersebut bersujud kepada para veteran belanda
” ampuni kami meneer, kami sudah tidak memiliki apapun lagi ”
Setelah orang2 kita dirampok dijarah dan dijajah……. Orang2 belanda itu pergi mencuri harta kekayaan kita dan melupakan semua sejarah kekejaman mereka selama ratusan tahun……. 😡
Dan setelah kita merdeka, Belanda datang kembali dan kembali melakukan kekejaman lagi kepada indonesia dengan membawa Sekutu Yang Disebut Pasukan Inggeris!!
🇳🇱🇬🇧 Bullshit……….!!!!!
Tidak akan pernah bisa di maafkan
You should pay back the money that Indonesian government had to pay to pay dutch debt after indonesian independence!!!! And all of things that they HAVE STOLEN WITHIN 350 YEARS!!!!! AND THE KILLED LIVES!
The dutch robbers banned native indonesians to have education, and that has made us lag for 350 years in terms of development, we could have been a great developed country if they didn’t colonize us.
You know what? Indonesia is not like other ex colonies who favor their former colonizers. No, we’re not that kind of country!
They apologise because they realise that indonesia will become one of the top economy in the world.
The Dutchess need to sell their products to indonesia .
4 million deaths and only apology?
Honestly indonesia also done great war crimes during this period..espescially during “bersiap” era..
sudah” la minta maaf gak jadi uang juga.kenapa pula belada ini minta maaf terus
Westerling is sadistic
Why it took so long for the Dutch to acknowledged their massacres on tens of thousands of Indonesian civilian people, extra judicial killings, tortures on civilian people of Indonesia?
We actually do acknowledge it. It’s the most important part of our history. It’s the most talked about subject during history classes. They tell young children how these horrible events should never happen again. But I have no idea why our government took such a long time to apologize.
The massacre of Raymond Pierre Paul Westerling in Sulawesi and World is silent.
In the round table agreement, Indonesia paid for the war costs incurred by the Dutch. Therefore, since the Dutch apologized for their war crimes, the money had to be returned to Indonesia.
as an indonesian, i am really confused with the current state of global politics, why would you apologize for something that your ancestor did? something over which you had no control back then? this is heart-warmingly stupid
The west robed the east. and they still are.
As Indonesian Dutch, we already know that our anchestor’s cruel action during colonization, but super glad after found old photos of my great grandfather with smle rifle and wore the Indonesian TKR uniform, proud he sided with the Republican in revolution war (1945-1949)
Modern government apologizing for the crime while they are only sperm is the cheapest thing they can do. as if that word could bring those deads.
yeah imagine being one of the more than 40k unarmed civilians in some province of sulawesi, 15k is some province in java, alone that are killed to scare the Rebel (independence soldier) i don’t think it’s really mean anything, for me personally i just don’t really want to see them again, but as a new generation of Indonesian, take that aside let’s work together for the better future…