Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte formally apologises for country's role in slavery

Mark Rutte has formally apologised for the role the Netherlands had in slavery.

Speaking at the National Archives in The Hague, the Dutch prime minister said his country “facilitated, stimulated, preserved and profited from slavery.”

“For centuries, under Dutch state authority, human dignity was violated in the most horrific way possible,” he said.

Continuing, he added: “Today, on behalf of the Dutch government, I apologise for the past actions of the Dutch State: to enslaved people in the past, everywhere in the world, who suffered as a consequence of those actions.”