To: Honorable State Secretary Z. Szabo

Minister of Digitalisation and Kingdom Relations

The Hague, Netherlands

Re: The Right of Self Determination, Your Excellency:

The Apex Court has ruled: Het folterverbod heeft een absoluut karakter: geen enkele uitzonderlijke omstandigheid, ongeacht of het gaat om een oorlogstoestand, een oorlogsdreiging, binnenlandse politieke onrust of welke andere openbare noodsituatie ook, kan worden aangevoerd als rechtvaardiging voor foltering (art. 2 lid 2 Verdrag tegen foltering). (ECLI:NL:PHR:2014:369, r.o. 2.2 ) Omdat het folterverbod volkenrechtelijk tot het ius cogens wordt gerekend, moet een verplichting van Nederland op grond van het uitleveringsverdrag met de V.S. wijken voor een verplichting van Nederland op grond van het folterverbod. (ECLI:NL:PHR:2014:369, r.o. 3.16) The Dutch Advisory Commission on Public International Law (CAVV) has declared that “Peremptory norms of international law protect the fundamental values of the international community. They are hierarchically superior to other rules of international law and are universally applicable. Examples of rules generally recognised as peremptory norms of international law are the prohibition of aggression, the prohibition of genocide and the right to self-determination.” Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties provides that: For the purposes of the present Convention, a peremptory norm of general international law is a norm accepted and recognized by the international community of States as a whole as a norm from which no derogation is permitted. While in the Written Statement of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the International Court of Justice on February 27, 2018, the Kingdom posited: Those peremptory norms that are clearly accepted and recognized include the prohibitions of aggression, genocide, slavery, racial discrimination, crimes against humanity and torture, and the right to self-determination” (par. 3.9) The Kingdom clearly recognizes the right to self-determination and torture both as “peremptory” or “jus cogens” norms. Question: 1. Can the State Secretary confirm that the Netherlands has declared that the right to self-determination is a permanent, continuing, universal, and inalienable right with a peremptory character from which there is no deviation under international law and this applies to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten? 2. Can the State Secretary confirm that the Netherlands has declared that the right of self-determination of the people of a colonial territory prevails over any claim by an Administering State and this applies to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten? 3. Can the State Secretary confirm that the Netherlands has declared that the decisions on the political status and the economic, social, and cultural development are made by the people itself, or its legitimate representatives and not by others? 4. Can the State Secretary confirm that the Netherlands has declared that the decisions on the political status and the economic, social, and cultural development shall be made in full freedom without any outside pressure or interference and this applies to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten? 5. Can the State Secretary confirm that because the right to self-determination is a peremptory norm that it prevails over Articles 2, 44, 50, and 51 of the Kingdom Charter or Het Statuut? We would appreciate an answer within three weeks of the date of this letter. Sincerely, Mr. Renate L. Brison Secretary Pro Soualiga Foundation

Dear Editor,

There’s been a lot of talk lately about boosting agriculture in Sint Maarten. Ministers are talking about farming, people are sharing ideas on food security, and even a few small initiatives have popped up around the island. That’s all good. We need more of that. But we also need to be honest about one simple truth: there can be no farming, no real agriculture, without protecting the land first.
You can’t grow food on damaged soil. You can’t raise livestock if the water is polluted or if hillside development keeps washing away fertile topsoil every time it rains. You can’t talk about agriculture and ignore what’s happening to our natural areas. And right now, too many of those areas are being bulldozed, cleared, or neglected. That has to change.
We’ve seen other islands get serious about this. In places like St. Lucia and Grenada, there’s an understanding that forests, wetlands, and open spaces play a role in keeping land healthy and productive. They protect against floods, support pollinators, and keep the soil in place. Farmers in those countries work hand-in-hand with conservationists because they’ve learned that agriculture without nature just doesn’t work.
Here in Sint Maarten, we’ve let those lessons slip by us. We’ve allowed years of unchecked development, illegal dumping, and a lack of enforcement to break down the land we now say we want to farm. We’ve let invasive species run rampant, and we haven’t put in place the kind of long-term protections needed to safeguard what little natural space we have left.
That matters. Because farming doesn’t happen in a vacuum, you need healthy ecosystems around your crops to support growth. You need bees and butterflies and other pollinators to pollinate. You need trees and vegetation to hold water in the soil during dry spells and slow it down during heavy rains. Without those things, farming becomes expensive, fragile, and unsustainable.
It’s good that we’re talking about agriculture again. But let’s not forget what’s required to make it work. We need to start setting aside and protecting what little natural land we have left. We need to stop cutting into hillsides and filling in wetlands for quick profits. We need to put policies in place that protect our environment, and we need to enforce those policies, not just talk about them. And we need to understand that protecting nature isn’t separate from farming—it is in fact the first critical step.
Government support for agriculture must go hand-in-hand with a strong commitment to terrestrial conservation. If we keep building on every green space, if we keep ignoring erosion, pollution, and habitat destruction, there will be nothing left to grow on. A food-secure Sint Maarten needs more than greenhouses and tools; it needs healthy land and functioning ecosystems. And that requires real, intentional environmental protection.
Otherwise, we’re just planting seeds in sand. And no matter how good our intentions are, nothing grows from that.

Sincerely,
Tadzio Bervoets

We have read your recent and passionate condemnation of the deeply offensive and racist remarks made by Dutch MP Thierry Baudet. We commend your courage in speaking out so clearly against colonial rhetoric, demographic engineering, and the degrading idea that the Caribbean is still up for “repopulation” or exploitation.

What you now condemn as a “colonial fantasy” for St. Maarten has been the lived, painful reality for Bonaire since 2010. Baudet’s statements are not a new threat—they are simply a blunt expression of a policy direction that has already been silently executed in Bonaire, with devastating consequences.

Since the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles and the forced annexation of Bonaire as a “territorial public entity” of the Netherlands, we have endured: -A 400% rise in immigration, with Dutch Europeans granted voting rights in local election and referendum after 90 days after arrival - The displacement of the native Bonairean population, reduced from approximately 80% in 2010 to less than 30% today - Loss of land, economic access, political voicelessness and cultural identity, as Dutch law overrides local governance.  A process that amounts to ethnic and cultural erasure, framed as modernization.

While the world hears your strong words against recolonization, we have been living the outcomes of it for over a decade—not as speculation, but as everyday reality.

In 2015, the people of Bonaire overwhelmingly rejected this imposed status in a democratic referendum. Yet that clear voice of self-determination was ignored. Our democratic will was dismissed. Instead of being treated as partners in the Kingdom, we were expelled from the Kingdom Charter aka “Statuut” framework, left with no protection or recognition under its legal or political structure.

Shockingly, this exclusion from the “Statuut” was agreed upon not only by the Netherlands, but with the cooperation or acquiescence—or silence—of our Caribbean partners: St. Maarten, Curaçao, and Aruba. While they continue to operate as autonomous countries under the Charter, Bonaire was effectively cast out of the “Statuut” and subjected to the full force of unilateral Dutch rule. Silence becomes complicity?

Prime Minister Mercelina, we must also address what many across the Caribbean witnessed with concern: your role last October as Chair of a United Nations session during the "Pact of the Future" summit. We, with UN ECOSOC Consultative Status, witnessed firsthand how your presence was used to project an image of Caribbean inclusion and harmony in the Kingdom —yet while you chaired that meeting, Bonaire and its people were being systematically erased —its people displaced, its democratic will denied, under policies that mirror Baudet’s ideology in practice, if not in language.

This creates confusion and even false legitimacy in the eyes of UN Member states, experts and the international community. When a Caribbean Prime Minister appears to endorse the image of a harmonious Kingdom, while sister islands are being recolonized and depopulated, the result is misrepresentation of the truth and undermines our struggle.

We urge you to extend your voice to those already suffering under the very policies Baudet now dares to say aloud. Acknowledge the human rights crisis in Bonaire, and use your position to speak the full truth — for all Caribbean peoples in the Kingdom.

Sincerely, with respect and hope, as a native Bonerian who has survived three assassination attempts and unlawful imprisonment, I call on St. Maarten, Curaçao, and Aruba to unite with us in the name of justice.

James Finies, Bonaire Human Rights Organization

Bonaire Human Rights Organization

Kaya Libertador Simon Bolivar 26

Kralendijk, Bonaire

Dutch Special Envoy Edison Rijna, former governor of Bonaire, is being deployed by the Dutch government to the Global Sustainable Island Summit (GSIS) in May 2025 in St. Kitts and Nevis. Framed as an advocate for increased funding to the Forum for Subnational Island Jurisdictions (SNIJs), Rijna’s real function is to advance Dutch strategic interests. His presence risks misleading CARICOM partners, as he represents the colonial state, not the voices or needs of the people in non-sovereign island territories.
It’s crucial to clarify the actions of the so-called Dutch Special Envoy engaging with CARICOM and St. Kitts and Nevis. While he presents himself as a representative of Bonaire, he truly serves Dutch interests, not those of Bonaire’s people. He is working on behalf of the Netherlands, not reflecting the struggles or voices of the local population.
The narrative being pushed is misleading and deceptive. The envoy is attempting to secure funding under the guise of representing Bonaire's climate vulnerability and challenges, but these claims are fundamentally false. Bonaire is not located in the hurricane belt, and our island does not suffer from major natural disasters like many other Caribbean nations. While climate change is a global concern, it is not the pressing issue that is currently affecting our people.
The true crisis in Bonaire is not environmental, but a human rights crisis one. The Dutch government imposes high taxes and collects all with zero accountability to the people. Our schools are stripped of cultural identity, forcing native children into a system that ignores and erases their language and rights. Unrestricted migration from the European Netherlands is driving overpopulation on Bonaire, straining the island's infrastructure, resources, and social framework—an undeniable example of modern colonial exploitation.
Healthcare in Bonaire is no longer serving our people—it’s being used as a tool of Dutch colonial control. The forced imposition of Dutch European laws like “euthanasia” violates our moral and cultural values, leaving families traumatized and the elderly afraid to seek care. Since its enforcement, the death rate has doubled, and our native population has plummeted from 80% in 2010 to just ca 30% today. This is not coincidence—it reflects a deliberate policy of displacement and cultural erasure.
It is misleading and harmful for this envoy to present a false narrative to the Caribbean, diverting attention from Bonaire's real struggles and reinforcing Dutch colonial dominance. We urge CARICOM leaders and the government of St. Kitts and Nevis to distinguish between a Dutch envoy pushing for Dutch interests and the true voice of Bonaire’s people, who are fighting for their survival, rights and self-determination.

James Finies, Bonaire Human Rights

Bonaire Human Rights Organization