This article needs additional citations for
verification. (June 2018) |
1977 Dutch school hostage crisis | |
---|---|
Location | Bovensmilde, Netherlands |
Coordinates | 52°58′30″N 6°28′46″E / 52.9751°N 6.4794°E |
Date | 23 May – 11 June 1977 |
Target | Primary school |
Attack type | Hostage-taking |
Weapons | Guns / handguns |
Deaths | 0 |
Perpetrators | Moluccan youth (4 perpetrators) |
Motive | A free South Moluccan Republic (Republik Maluku Selatan) |
On the morning of Monday 23 May 1977, four armed South-Moluccans took 105 children and their five teachers hostage at a primary school in Bovensmilde, Netherlands. At the same time nine others hijacked a train in the nearby De Punt. Both hostage crises lasted for twenty days before being ended by military interventions.
The South Moluccans had arrived in the Netherlands for a temporary stay, promised by the Dutch government that they would get their own independent state, Republik Maluku Selatan (RMS). For about 25 years they lived in temporary camps, often in poor conditions. After these years the younger generation felt betrayed by the Dutch government for not giving them their independent state and they began radical actions to gain attention for their cause.
The four attackers were convicted with sentences varying from six to nine years.
The Moluccan community has never made any apologies, but two of the hostage takers, motivated by born-again Christianity, have had a meeting with former victims in 2007. [2]
Thirty years after the events, on 23 May 2007, a monument was erected, and the first memorial ceremony was held, where symbolic white balloons were released.
This article needs additional citations for
verification. (June 2018) |
1977 Dutch school hostage crisis | |
---|---|
Location | Bovensmilde, Netherlands |
Coordinates | 52°58′30″N 6°28′46″E / 52.9751°N 6.4794°E |
Date | 23 May – 11 June 1977 |
Target | Primary school |
Attack type | Hostage-taking |
Weapons | Guns / handguns |
Deaths | 0 |
Perpetrators | Moluccan youth (4 perpetrators) |
Motive | A free South Moluccan Republic (Republik Maluku Selatan) |
On the morning of Monday 23 May 1977, four armed South-Moluccans took 105 children and their five teachers hostage at a primary school in Bovensmilde, Netherlands. At the same time nine others hijacked a train in the nearby De Punt. Both hostage crises lasted for twenty days before being ended by military interventions.
The South Moluccans had arrived in the Netherlands for a temporary stay, promised by the Dutch government that they would get their own independent state, Republik Maluku Selatan (RMS). For about 25 years they lived in temporary camps, often in poor conditions. After these years the younger generation felt betrayed by the Dutch government for not giving them their independent state and they began radical actions to gain attention for their cause.
The four attackers were convicted with sentences varying from six to nine years.
The Moluccan community has never made any apologies, but two of the hostage takers, motivated by born-again Christianity, have had a meeting with former victims in 2007. [2]
Thirty years after the events, on 23 May 2007, a monument was erected, and the first memorial ceremony was held, where symbolic white balloons were released.