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Van Bommel seeks parliamentary enquiry into decolonisation of Suriname

9 November 2011

Van Bommel seeks parliamentary enquiry into decolonisation of Suriname

SP Member of Parliament is urging the establishment of a parliamentary enquiry into Dutch involvement in Suriname’s decolonisation process. His desire to see an enquiry was prompted by the government’s answer to a parliamentary question put by the SP in November, 2010 in which the government admits that in 1986 plans were laid for a full scale invasion. ‘Many of the problems afflicting relations between the Netherlands and Suriname can be traced back to the failed decolonisation,’ says Van Bommel. ‘Dutch responsibility for this has never been clarified.’

Van BommelIn 1986 a war was raging in Suriname between the army and the rebels, who were led by Ronnie Brunswijk. An invasion would have required the closure of the airport, controls to be placed on thoroughfares, and the Surinamese armed forces and their commanders to be temporarily ‘neutralised’, as the government now states. “Neutralisation usually means making war and there must have been discussion of a large-scale military operation,” says Van Bommel.

During the last few years the SP has on many occasions questioned the Netherlands’ foreign policy as it relates to Suriname. “I want to inspect the still secret documents from which it emerged that in 1986 the Netherlands, together with the United States, had plans for a military invasion of Suriname,” Van Bommel insists. Van Bommel will argue for the establishment of a parliamentary enquiry into the events in Suriname when he meets with Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal next week.

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