Moluccans living in exile in the Netherlands are celebrating the 61st anniversary of the unilateral proclamation of independence for the South Moluccan Islands.
The Moluccan Islands are part of Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, and are located in the east of the archipelago. After World War Two, Moluccans fought alongside the Dutch in the Dutch colonial army, the KNIL, against the Indonesians who wanted an end to colonialism. The Dutch were fighting for a return to colonial rule following the Japanese occupation during the war. When Indonesia gained its independence in 1949, over 12,000 Moluccans (KNIL members and their families) sailed to the Netherlands - temporarily, they thought - as they feared reprisals.
Around 2,000 people are expected to attend political speeches and cultural performances and workshops at a congress centre in Apeldoorn. The day will also focus on the human rights situation in the Moluccan Islands.
A state visit to the Netherlands by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last October was postponed after Moluccan exiles filed a law suit against him for human rights violations.
(nc/imm)
© Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Email this Bulletin
Printer-friendly version
follow this link :http://politik.kompasiana.com/2011/04/19/rms-colonial%E2%80%99s-puppet-separatism/
It was a false history about Indonesia, the Indonesian independence day was proclaimed on August 17th 1945, but the Dutch with support of allied force tried to gained back Indonesia by conducted such a brutal agression on 1947 and 1948.. About the Human Rights Issues in Maluku, there are commission of human rights that conducted to resolve many issues related on human rights in Indonesia.
the flees molukkan to netherlands in 1949 and as an embrio of south molukkan republic (RMS) supported by eks KNIL and the families just made everything goes wrong recently in Maluku and most of to the government of Indonesia.. recently, a dutch politician Geert Wilders wrote in his twitter account that he supported RMS to free from Indonesia, that provocative comment should be responded immediately by the Indonesian embassy in Holland by sending a diplomatic protest note. Dutch politicians should leave indonesian government to deal with its own internal matters, including RMS issue..