The Netherlands is handing back hundreds of valuable artefacts it removed from Indonesia and Sri Lanka during the colonial period, including the cache of precious stones, gold and silver jewellery looted by Dutch troops from a Balinese royal palace, known as the “Lombok treasure”.
The 484 objects are the first the Netherlands is restituting to its former Asian colonies after a 2020 report by an advisory committee urged the government to “unconditionally” return looted cultural artefacts if requested by their countries of origin.
