Netherlands to return over 400 artefacts looted from Indonesia & Sri Lanka in colonial era

Two Dutch museums in the Netherlands are returning hundreds of valuable artefacts looted from Indonesia and Sri Lanka during their colonial rule. The artefacts include a cache of precious stones, gold and silver jewellery that were looted by the Dutch troops from a Balinese royal palace. The decision to return the artefact came just days after the Dutch King Willem-Alexander apologised for his country’s and his ancestor's involvement in the slave trade around the world. Hence, the agreed restitution comes as the Netherlands increasingly confronts its colonial past. 

The government of the Netherlands announced the planned restitution of 484 'cultural objects' on Thursday, The Guardian reported. The move came three years after a 2020 report recommended the government to 'unconditionally' return looted cultural artefacts if they are requested by their respective country of origin. 'This is a historic moment,' said Gunay Uslu, the Dutch state secretary for culture and media. “It’s the first time we’re following recommendations of the committee to give back objects that should never have been brought to the Netherlands,” Uslu further added. 

The objects that are expected to be returned include four antique stone statues from the former Javanese Hindu kingdom of Singhasari and a keris dagger from the Klungkung kingdom. The long list of artefacts includes 132 objects of modern art from Bali. which are popularly known as the Pita Maha collection. The collection will be formally restituted to the Indonesian government and will be restored at the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden on 10 July. However, the artefacts will not include the human remains of the 'Java man', which the Indonesian government requested in 2022. 

Why is the ‘Java Man’ so important

The famous remains of the 'Java Man' includes a skull and is touted as the oldest hominid fossil ever found. It was excavated by Dutch palaeoanthropologist Eugène Dubois from Indonesia in 1891. It is now on display at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden and is still considered as a landmark discovery in charting human evolution. Indonesia argued that Dubois used forced labourers to take out the fossils, some of these workers died while working under him. Hence, the Dutch administration should return the artefact. 

However, the Dutch museum rejected the argument and stated that the Java Man would not have been discovered if Dubois would not take the initiative. However, a spokesperson from the Dutch government did not blatantly reject the prospect of returning the object. “Nothing has been declined, but some things take longer than others,” the spokesperson told The Guardian. 

Walking on the road of reparations 

The decision by the Dutch museums came after the King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander apologised for their ancestor's involvement in the slave trade. “Today I stand before you. Today, as your king and as a member of the government, I make this apology myself. And I feel the weight of the words in my heart and my soul,” the King said in one of his addresses. “But for me, there is another personal dimension,” the king continued. Slavery and the slave trade are recognised as a crime against humanity. And the Stadholders and Kings of the House of Orange-Nassau did nothing to stop it,” he added. 

In December last year, the European nation’s Prime Minister Mark Rutte offered a formal apology on behalf of the government for the atrocious crimes conducted in the past. “It is true that nobody alive today bears any personal guilt for slavery…(however) the Dutch state bears responsibility for the immense suffering that has been done to those that were enslaved and their descendants,” Rutte said in his address last year. He also added that the succession of the Dutch government has not done enough to recognise the heinous crimes which hold lasting and negative effects. 

However, the apology fell short of taking measures to continue with the reparation process. While the Dutch government did not offer compensation to the descendants of enslaved people, the government announced that it will establish a 200 million-euro fund to increase awareness about the heinous crime. This measure was a follow-up measure to one taken in 2021 in which the National Museum of the Netherlands, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, hosted the exhibition “Slavery, “which explored the Dutch involvement in the practice.