The Dutch are returning looted artifacts to Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Does it matter?

Cultural artifacts are handed back to Indonesia during a ceremony in Leiden, Netherlands, Monday, July 10, 2023. The Netherlands and Indonesia on Monday have hailed the return of hundreds of cultural artifacts taken, sometimes by force, during colonial times as a major step forward in restitution efforts worldwide. (Aleksandar Furtula/AP)

MANILA, Philippines — Hundreds of priceless, cultural artifacts looted during the Dutch colonization of Indonesia and Sri Lanka are finally on their way home.

In a ceremony Monday at the Museum Volkenkunde in Dutch city of Leiden, 478 cultural objects were handed over to representatives from their home countries hundreds of years after they were taken — sometimes by force.