Dutch PM Rob Jetten formally apologises to Moluccan community for historic mistreatment 75 years after forced arrival

Prime Minister Rob Jetten apologised on Sunday on behalf of the Dutch government for the treatment of the first generation of Moluccans, 75 years after they were forced to leave Indonesia and arrived in the Netherlands under a promise of a short, temporary stay. The apology came during the unveiling of the Nationaal Monument Ulu Kora on the Lloydkade in Rotterdam, the very quay where the last ships carrying Moluccan KNIL soldiers and their families docked.

“For the heartless and dishonourable dismissal as soldiers, for the inadequate reception and housing, for not being seen and being abandoned, for the unfulfilled longing for home, for the sadness and pain in so many Moluccan families, I offer apologies today on behalf of the Dutch government.”

Monument on the historic quay

The Ulu Kora monument (named after the bow of a traditional Moluccan ship) was unveiled as a place of remembrance and recognition. Jan Tahamata (81), one of the first Moluccans to step ashore in 1951, was present alongside his nephew Yordi Tahamata, chair of the Stichting Landelijk Moluks Monument, who pushed for the memorial after a walk that ended on the Lloydkade. "My uncle Jan told me this was the place where he disembarked as a small child," Yordi Tahamata said.

Broken promises and harsh conditions

In 1951, the Dutch government brought more than 12,000 Moluccan men, women, and children to the Netherlands. Many of the men were soldiers of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) who had fought on the Dutch side during the Indonesian War of Independence and were no longer safe in their homeland. Upon arrival they were immediately dismissed from military service, with little or no back pay. They were told their stay would last six months but were housed in former labour and concentration camps such as Westerbork and Vught, often in unheated barracks.

“It was a disgrace. That Jetten is here today is an important signal: finally recognition.”

Nina Nussy, whose grandparents also disembarked at the Lloydkade, recalled how her grandfather, a first-class soldier, was sent to work in a flour factory and forced to hand over 60 percent of his income to the Dutch state for housing. "That feels as if you chose to be humiliated yourself," she said.

Beyond words

The prime minister warned against reducing Moluccan history to the train hijacking at De Punt in 1977, when nine armed South Moluccan youths held an intercity train for weeks. "Let the Netherlands not keep making the mistake of narrowing the history of the Moluccan community to the hijackings," Jetten said. He stressed that the apology must be followed by concrete steps: further historical research, consultation with the community, and inclusion of the Moluccan story in education.

Burgemeester Joost Manusama of Capelle aan den IJssel had earlier urged the prime minister to go beyond words: "I pleaded with premier Jetten not only for apologies but also for a programme so that the history of Moluccans in the Netherlands is properly included in education."

Mixed feelings in the community

Reactions among Moluccan organisations were divided. Paul Salakory, chair of Stichting Molukkers in Overijssel, welcomed the monument but said that any apology arrived 75 years too late.

“My parents and many others who experienced this are no longer here. Now this recognition is actually given to the second generation. We still feel the pain, sadness and powerlessness, but it is about the people who lived through it themselves.”

Manoah Salampessy, a 36-year-old Moluccan working in the cultural sector, said many in the community do not want an apology at all. "A lot of people are not waiting for excuses. They think they come too late, because only a few people from the first generation are still alive. Moreover, there is little trust in the Dutch government, because of the injustice of the past." Salampessy had therapy for trauma tied to the Moluccan-Dutch past and recalled visiting a church in a damp former barracks as a child.

Jetmen acknowledged that pain extends across generations. "That pain is carried by later generations," he said, and stressed that the apology was made while the last members of the first generation are still alive. The Ulu Kora monument, he said, is a tribute to the thousands of KNIL soldiers and their families "who thought they were coming temporarily and hoped for a quick return. A hope that faded as time passed."