Indonesian critics ask: what use is Dutch recognition of 1945 independence without reparations?

Dutch PM Mark Rutte’s statement, which ‘would not change any existing legal grounds’, is seen as the Netherlands avoiding its responsibility to make reparations for its colonial rule over Indonesia

Recognising the August 17, 1945 independence date would make Dutch aggression in Indonesia in the 1940s an invasion of a sovereign country, one observer notes

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Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte (left) with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at Bogor Palace on the outskirts of Jakarta in 2019. Photo: Indonesian Presidential Palace/AFP

Published: 7:50pm, 21 Jun 2023

The Netherlands’ recent recognition of the official independence day of its former colony Indonesia is “not sincere” and a “huge insult” to Jakarta as its acknowledgement lacks the requisite legal repercussions, observers have said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had said on June 14 that the Netherlands “recognises fully and without reservation” that Indonesia became independent on August 17, 1945.

“We see the proclamation as [a] historical fact,” Rutte said during a parliamentary meeting in The Hague, adding that he “will consult” Indonesian President Joko Widodo on how to “reach a joint realisation of that independence day”.

Widodo said the next day that the recognition was “a good thing” but he would consult the minister of foreign affairs about its potential impact.

Rutte’s statement, however, is a “huge insult” to Indonesia, according to Jeffry Pondaag, chairman of the Netherlands-based The Dutch Honorary Debts Committee Foundation, which actively seeks compensation from the Dutch for their military offensives.