Dutch PM apologizes for his country's history of slave trade

Rutte acknowledged that the Netherlands had paved the way, encouraged and benefited from slavery for centuries.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has issued an official apology for his country's place in the slave trade in history. Rutte said that slavery should be defined as a "crime against humanity".

Speaking at the Dutch National Archives, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that the past cannot be erased, but can be confronted. Rutte acknowledged that the Netherlands had paved the way, encouraged, and benefited from slavery for centuries.

Rutte said that people were exploited on behalf of the Dutch state and sold as slaves. "Today, on behalf of the Dutch government, I am making an official apology for the state's past crimes," he said.

In the Netherlands, cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht had previously apologized as local governments for their past slavery.