At least 3.3 million people were victims of Dutch enslavement during the transatlantic slave trade, according to new research, more than five times the widely used figure of 600,000 that has been cited in apologies by King Willem-Alexander and former Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Revised figures challenge historical narrative
King Willem-Alexander referred to the 600,000 figure when he apologized three years ago for the Netherlands' role in the transatlantic slave trade. In 2022, Rutte also cited that number in his apology for “the past actions of the Dutch state.” However, investigative journalist Leendert van der Valk argues in his new book, Forgotten Places, Forgotten People – an Atlas of the Dutch History of Slavery, that the true number is between 3.3 and 5.3 million.
Van der Valk said the 600,000 figure failed to account for all regions where the Dutch colonized or enslaved people, the full period of involvement, those born into slavery, and Indigenous peoples enslaved in colonized territories.
Humanizing the victims
Peggy Brandon, a Surinamese-born cultural leader and curator of the Netherlands’ National Museum of Slavery (under development), emphasized the importance of accurate numbers. “What upsets me is that we never talk about the people who lived generation after generation within that system of enslavement,” she said. “We don’t talk about the people who sometimes killed their young children because they didn’t want them to grow up in enslavement.” She added that getting the numbers right is about humanizing those dehumanized by Europeans to justify their treatment of Black people.
Methodology and broader scope
Van der Valk’s calculations rely on demographic research from Radboud University. Matthias van Rossum, a colonialism professor at Radboud and the International Institute of Social History, said the new figures shift the focus from long-distance slave trade to include those born into slavery or enslaved in regional contexts, such as Indigenous communities.
The book expands the geographic scope to include South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Guyana, and Tobago—Dutch colonies or slave trade sites before being taken over by England. It also extends the time frame: starting from 1595 instead of 1630, and ending in 1914 when slavery ended in parts of Indonesia, rather than 1863 when it was abolished in the Netherlands.
Call for action
Coen van Galen, an associate professor in colonial history at Radboud, described Van der Valk’s calculation as a “rough estimate” but said it “provides for the first time an indication of the total number of victims of slavery in all Dutch colonies combined.” He suggested similar calculations could be done for other colonial empires.
The book comes as Dutch territories and the Black community in the Netherlands call on Prime Minister Rob Jetten to follow the apologies from the king and Rutte with concrete action. This follows the UN’s landmark resolution in March declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.
