Amsterdam mayor apologises for city’s role in slave trade

The mayor of Amsterdam in the Netherlands has formally apologised for the city’s role in slavery, as the country reckons with its colonial past.

Femke Halsema said it was “time to engrave the great injustice of colonial slavery into our city’s identity”. The apology came during an annual holiday that marks the end of slavery in Dutch colonies in the 1800s.

Last year the city council voted for an apology and an advisory panel has told the national government to follow suit.

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