Declaration
Independence of Suriname, 1975
Suriname became independent from the Netherlands on 25 November 1975, at a ceremony in Paramaribo attended by Princess Beatrix, at which Queen Juliana signed the declaration of independence and Johan Ferrier was named the country's first President.
What happened
Suriname, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1954, became fully independent on 25 November 1975. The Dutch government under Prime Minister Joop den Uyl, in office from May 1973, had committed to the independence of its remaining Caribbean territories during its term; Henck Arron's newly elected government accepted den Uyl's invitation that Suriname become independent by the end of 1975.[1] The negotiations secured a Dutch development-aid package of 3.5 billion guilders for the new republic and a Dutch concession delaying any visa requirement for Surinamese travel to the Netherlands until 1980.[1] According to the Dutch cultural-sector platform DutchCulture, "on 25 November 1975, after a celebratory ceremonial night in Paramaribo that was attended by princess Beatrix, queen Juliana signed the declaration of independence," and "Johan Ferrier was named as the first president of the Republic of Suriname."[2] Henck Arron became the country's first Prime Minister.[2] Around independence, emigration to the Netherlands peaked sharply: roughly 40,000 people left in 1975 alone, and the Surinamese-born population in the Netherlands rose from about 110,000 in 1975 to about 145,000 by 1980, with a second spike in 1979-80 as a five-year window to opt for Dutch citizenship expired.[3]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
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1.
Claim: The Dutch government under Prime Minister Joop den Uyl, in office from May 1973, committed to the independence of its remaining Caribbean territories during its term; the newly elected government of Henck Arron accepted den Uyl's invitation that Suriname become independent by the end of 1975. The resulting negotiations secured a Dutch development-aid package of 3.5 billion guilders for the new republic and a Dutch concession delaying any visa requirement for Surinamese travellers to the Netherlands until 1980.
- Netherlands-Suriname relations (Wikipedia) link, Independence section. Source record
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2.
Claim: Suriname became fully independent from the Netherlands on 25 November 1975; "after a celebratory ceremonial night in Paramaribo that was attended by princess Beatrix, queen Juliana signed the declaration of independence," and "Johan Ferrier was named as the first president of the Republic of Suriname," with Henck Arron, who had led the independence negotiations, becoming first Prime Minister.
- DutchCulture, Suriname: 45 years of independence (DutchCulture) link, article text. Source record
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3.
Claim: Emigration from Suriname to the Netherlands peaked in 1975, the year of independence, with about 40,000 people arriving that year alone; the Surinamese-born population resident in the Netherlands rose from roughly 110,000 in 1975 to about 145,000 by 1980, with a second migration spike in 1979-80 as a five-year window allowing Surinamese to opt for Dutch citizenship after independence expired.
- Over 250,000 Surinamese people have moved to the Netherlands since 1975 (NL Times) link, article text, citing Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Source record