Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte formally apologized on behalf of the state for the Netherlands’ historical role in the slave trade on Monday. He said slavery must be recognised in “the clearest terms” as a crime against humanity.

The prime minister’s address was a response to a report published last year by a government-appointed advisory board, set up after the 2020 killing of George Floyd in the U.S. The report said Dutch participation in slavery had been a crime against humanity deserving of a formal apology and financial reparations.

The report said that what it called institutional racism in the Netherlands “cannot be seen separately from centuries of slavery and colonialism and the ideas that have arisen in this context.”

The government has, nonetheless, ruled out reparations, but will set up a 200 million euro educational fund for initiatives that will help tackle the legacy of slavery in the Netherlands and its former colonies.

Descendants’ groups and some of the affected countries criticized the apology as rushed and argued that the lack of consultation from the Netherlands showed persistent colonial attitudes. Others dismissed the value of words without the backing of monetary compensation for the damages wrought by slavery.

In 2013, CARICOM, made a list of requests including that European governments formally apologise and create a repatriation programme for those who wish to return to their homeland, which has not happened.

Some activist groups in the Netherlands and its former colonies had urged Rutte to wait until July 1 of next year, the anniversary of the abolition of slavery 160 years ago.

Nonetheless, research shows that 70% of the African-Caribbean community in the Netherlands, which mostly consists of descendants of the enslaved, considers an apology important.

The prime minister of the Dutch Caribbean territory of Sint Maarten, Silveria Jacobs, told Dutch media at the weekend that the island would not accept any government apology “until our advisory committee has discussed it and we as a country discussed it”.

Rutte spoke in The Hague, while other Dutch ministers were traveling to seven former colonies — Suriname, Bonaire, Sint Maarten, Aruba, Curaçao, Saba, and Sint Eustatius — to “discuss the cabinet response and its significance on location with those present” after Rutte’s speech, the government said.

(Guardian, Deutsche Welle, Guardian, Associated Press, Deutsche Welle, NLTimes, Associated Press)

Climate Justice

• International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea decided to hear “oral proceedings” to provide an opinion on what impact a key U.N. treaty governing maritime activities has on efforts to curb climate change. Specifically, the commission — backed by the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda and the Pacific island country of Tuvalu — wants the U.N. court to outline what obligations parties to the treaty have in relation to the effects of climate change caused by human activity, and on protecting the marine environment from ocean warming and sea level rise. (Kaieteur News, Associated Press)
  
  
• The agriculture sector faces the brunt of climate change in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The industry is one of the country’s most crucial economic sectors, and is a means of income for thousands of farmers and entrepreneurs. (Climate Tracker)
  
  
• The United Nations’ Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that national and local entities will help implement a comprehensive approach to adaptation and disaster risk reduction in coastal areas of ​​Havana as a response to the realities of climate change.
  
  
• Insights for mangrove restoration from activist group in Bonaire. (Repeating Islands)

The Caribbean and the World

• “The impression that the ongoing Haitian crisis is framed by a diplomatic reality no one wants to own may be somewhat overstated, but it does capture the rudderless international response to Haiti’s intensifying calamity,” writes Haitian policy expert Georges Fauriol in Global Americans.

In the Diaspora

• Claudine Gay will be Harvard University’s first Black president. She is the daughter of Haitian immigrants, and she credits her parents with instilling in her an appreciation for education. “They came to the U.S. with very little and put themselves through college while raising our family,” Gay said. “My parents believed that education opens every door.” (Harvard Crimson, Le Nouvelliste via Repeating Islands)

Democratic Governance

• Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit won his sixth consecutive reelection in snap elections earlier this month. “Skerrit’s announcement that this will be his final term in office, as long as electoral reform remains elusive, fears over the quality of Dominica’s democracy will likely continue and could potentially result in increased international pressure from regional actors,” write Scott B. MacDonald and Alejandro Trenchi in Global Americans.
  
  
• The U.S. House of Representatives voted, last week, to allow Puerto Ricans to decide the political future of the territory. It is the first time the chamber has committed to backing a binding process that could pave the way for Puerto Rico to become the nation’s 51st state or an independent country. But the measure, though supported by the White House, has little chance of passing in the country’s Senate, reports the New York Times.
  
  
• Nonetheless, “the bipartisan vote — the bill passed 233 to 191 — was a symbolic statement by the House that Puerto Rico’s status as a colonial territory was both untenable and unwanted by many of its voters.” — New York Times.

Urban Equality

• Almost 500 persons killed in motor vehicle-related crashes in 2021, making it the most violent year for road users across Jamaica in nearly two decades. “In the Kingston Metropolitan Area, street design is reductive and, above all else, focuses on moving large volumes of vehicles as quickly as possible. With a bias towards car speed, can safety for all other road users ever be achieved?” — Island City Lab

Public Security

• Antigua and Barbuda’s Ministry of Social Transformation proposed criminalizing gangs, as part of a series of actions aimed at reducing school violence. (Loop News)

Justice

• The U.S. Virgin Islands has reached a settlement with the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to pay restitution to the government for crimes he committed on the territory. (Loop News)

Drug Policy

• The Grenadian government intends to present legislation to Parliament to legalize cannabis for medicinal purposes, within a year. (CMC)

Economics and Finance

• Six Caribbean countries are among the top ten Small Island Developing States in the world with public debt greater than their gross domestic product or GDP. Based on 2020 data Barbados is the highest ranked at 157% followed by Suriname, Belize, Dominica, Jamaica and Antigua and Barbuda. (Dominica News Online)
  
  
• Blockchain aficionados have long flocked to Puerto Rico for its favorable tax laws. But as the industry wobbles, local residents are pushing back, reports the Guardian.

Opportunities

• Call on Caribbean leaders to commit to the Climate Adaptation Declaration now — Act 350

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