DutchNews.nl,
Tuesday 18 March 2014
(Volkskrant/ANP) |
The claim
is made by journalist Griselda Molemans whose book ‘Opgevangen in
andijvielucht’ (Welcomed by the smell of endive) chronicles the repatriation of
thousands of Dutch Indonesians to the Netherlands.
Many had
lost the paper work relating to bank accounts and life insurances in the
confusion surrounding the Japanese occupation and the Indonesian revolution and
so were unable to claim what was theirs.
Report
Molemans
bases her findings on a 1945 report from the archives of the Federal Reserve in
New York. It says that the 17 largest insurers sold 251.8 million guilders
worth of life insurances in the former Dutch colony, the paper writes.
A large
part of the unpaid funds were transferred to the United States after the
Japanese invasion. The central bank of Indonesia, the Javasche Bank, likewise
found a safe place for its gold and deposits.
According
to Molemans the proof lies in the American vaults. The Dutch association of
insurers denies the administration is in New York. Any claims only go through
the Dutch archives.
Transparency
For its
part, the Dutch state failed to pay out salaries and pensions to soldiers in
the Dutch colonial army. Prisoners of war, citizens and the so-called ‘comfort
girls’ never received their share of the Japanese compensation money.
Contrary to
what most of the population believed at the time, the Dutch Indonesians were
made to pay for their own repatriation and lodgings. The average debt was
15,000 guilders.
The Royal
Netherlands institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies KTIVL , which
has been championing more research into the colonial war, is quoted as saying
the claims are ‘new’.
‘Some
redress has been made by the state following earlier claims but claimants never
received the sum they were entitled to,’ a spokesman for the institute said.
Silfraire
Delhaye, chairman of the Indisch Platform, formed in the wake of the movement
to pressure the Dutch government into recognising past wrongs in Indonesia,
told the Volkskrant that although the material debt to the Indonesians is still
a great one, recuperation of the money is complicated.
‘Many
policies and deposits ended up elsewhere. We don’t know why. We need transparency
and knowledge.’
No comments:
Post a Comment