Roots Migration in Suriname and the Caribbean - An Exploration of Heritage and Identity

Roots, Return and Belonging: Heritage, Identity and Transgenerational Migration in Suriname and the Caribbean

This event explores the wider Dutch and British colonial worlds and asks: How can descendants reconnect with their ancestral homelands? We will discuss questions of identity, belonging and heritage, while examining how notions of home, citizenship and cultural inheritance are being reshaped across generations.

Suriname, a country in the West Caribbean formerly colonised by the Netherlands, celebrated 50 years of independence in 2025. Yet the ties between Suriname and the Netherlands remain strong. Last year the Dutch King offered an official apology for the Netherlands’ role in colonial slavery. What does this mean for the future of the relationship between the two countries? And what impact does this shared history continue to have on contemporary Surinamese and Dutch society, particularly on third-generation descendants?

The evening will include selected excerpts (with English subtitles) from the four-part documentary series De Nieuwe Generaties van Suriname (The New Generations of Suriname), directed by filmmaker Amanda van Hesteren. The series follows young Surinamese-Dutch adults as they reconnect with their ancestral roots and navigate the opportunities, challenges and emotional realities of transgenerational return migration to Suriname.

Amanda will be joining a panel discussion with Sacha Oudolf and Dr Audrey Alllwood. Together they will explore the wider significance of roots migration and return across former Dutch and British colonial societies. The event will be moderated by Rose Roobeek, offering an engaging dialogue on what it means to belong across places, cultures and generations.

About the speakers

Amanda van Hesteren is a Rotterdam-based filmmaker and artist.

Recently, she made the TV series The New Generations of Surinam (2025), in which she follows a group of Dutch-Surinamese young professionals. These individuals are launching initiatives to conserve Surinamese heritage through the lens of a new generation driven by strong core values of decolonisation and unity. Amanda also made the documentary Days with Blue this year, which was co-produced by the public broadcaster VPRO.

 Earlier this year, she exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and her work is currently on display at the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen in Switzerland. Dr Audrey Allwood, social anthropologist, author and Lecturer at Goldsmiths University of London, researches and publishes on various experiences of Caribbean migrants in Britain. Audrey is also a public speaker, experienced interim project manager and strategic planner of combined NHS and local authority services and delivered health and well-being services in communities.  

Sacha Oudolf is working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2001 in different positions, from human rights to security and regions like the Western Balkans. Since 2023, she is the coordinator at the Western Hemisphere Department and in this capacity responsible for shaping the relations with Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and Suriname, including the follow up on the apologies for the Dutch slavery past. 2025 was a memorable year in the relation with Suriname: 50 years of independence and the visit of the Royal Couple to Suriname.

Rose Roobeek is a London-based Supervising Producer at CNN International. Throughout her 12-year career with the network, she has helped lead coverage of some of the most significant global stories of the past decade, including Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the Israel-Hamas conflict. Roobeek also worked as Public Relations Manager at the Dutch Centre, where she oversaw communications, administration, and event logistics, supporting the organisation's programmes and public engagement activities between 2014 and 2019.

This event is kindly sponsored by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands