PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday, July 17th, at approximately 11:40 p.m., police dispatch received several reports of gunshots being fired in the Simpson Bay area, in close proximity to a well-known and frequently visited location. 

Preliminary investigation revealed that an unknown suspect discharged multiple rounds, striking two parked vehicles. The motive for the shooting remains unknown at this time.

After committing the act, the suspect fled the scene on a nearby parked scooter.         

A search to locate the suspect was conducted in the area but to no avail. 

The Detective Department, assisted by the Forensic Department, has launched a full investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the shooting and identify those responsible.

Fortunately, no persons were struck or injured during the incident.

The Sint Maarten Police Force (KPSM) is once again appealing to the general public for assistance. Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information that may assist the investigation, including footage from the area around the time of the shooting, is urged to contact the Police Station at +1 (721) 542-2222 or the anonymous tip line at 9300.

KPSM thanks the community for its continued cooperation and support. 

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday, July 17, 2026, at approximately 3:25 p.m., the Police Force of Sint Maarten (KPSM) Dispatch received a report of a shooting incident on Dizzy Drive in the Cul-de-Sac area.

Upon arrival, responding patrol officers learned that a dispute had occurred between several individuals. During the altercation, one of the persons involved allegedly struck another individual with a firearm before discharging a single shot.

Fortunately, no one was injured as a result of the gunfire.

The suspect was immediately apprehended by police officers at the scene and transported to the Philipsburg Police Station, where he is currently being processed. He remains in police custody pending further investigation.

Detectives and members of the Forensic Department processed the scene, and an active investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident is ongoing.

KPSM remains fully committed to serving and protecting the community and continues to take all incidents involving firearms with the utmost seriousness.

An Urgent International Appeal

The Bonaire Human Rights Organization (BHRO) hereby issues an urgent SOS to the international community. Bonaire is facing a silent humanitarian and demographic crisis that threatens the long-term survival of the native Bonerian people.

In 2004, Ramonsito Booi of the UPB Bonaire’s main political party, together with Burney Elhage, Arthur Sealy, James Kroon, Jopie Abraham and other political leaders were among the principal architects and persons responsible of the constitutional process that dismantled the Netherlands Antilles, and degraded Bonaire without the consent of the people into a new subordinated constitutional status as "public entity" externally administered and governed from The Hague, as Bonaire's population stood IN 2004 at approximately 10,008, consisting predominantly of native Bonaireans. In 2017, the Democratic Party, Clark Abraham, and the MPB Party, Elvis Sjin Asjoe and Daisy Coffie, approved in Bonaire’s parliament for the Netherlands to anchor Bonaire in the Dutch Constitution without the freely expressed will of its people.

By 1 January 2026, Bonaire's population had skyrocketed to 27,611, with recent population growth driven overwhelmingly by immigration. In 2025 alone, Bonaire recorded 252 births, 170 deaths, and 2,116 immigrants, demonstrating that migration—not natural population growth—is the principal driver of the island's population increase.

This data is from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the Netherlands' independent national statistical authority, responsible for collecting, analyzing, and publishing the country's official demographic, social, and economic statistics. According to the official CBS Population Forecast for the Caribbean Netherlands (2025–2050), Bonaire's population is projected to increase further from 26,600 in 2025 to approximately 34,200 by 2035.

CBS also projects that the share of residents born on Bonaire will continue to decline as migration remains the primary source of population growth.

According to these official demographic projections, if the current trends continue, native Bonaireans could become less than 15 percent of the island's population within the next decade, transforming the indigenous people into a small minority in their own homeland.

Many other institutional factors contribute to this demographic and cultural destabilization, such as declining birth rates among native Bonaireans, increasing mortality, and mounting economic hardship since the constitutional changes of 10 October 2010.

Also, the rising land taxes, increasing property taxes, soaring housing prices, higher living costs, and growing financial pressures have compelled many native Bonaireans to sell ancestral lands, family homes, and local businesses or to leave Bonaire altogether in search of affordable opportunities elsewhere.

All these and more combined pressures, together with sustained immigration, are accelerating the demographic and cultural erosion of the native Bonerian people.

BHRO therefore issues this urgent SOS to CARICOM, COPPPAL, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Organization of American States (OAS), the United Nations, the United Nations Human Rights Council, governments throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, international human rights organizations, civil society, and all people of goodwill to urgently examine the situation in Bonaire and take appropriate action to help safeguard the fundamental human rights, identity, culture, language, heritage, and future of the native Bonerian people before this silent humanitarian crisis becomes irreversible.

Bonaire Human Rights Organization

Kaya Libertador Simon Bolivar 26

Kralendijk, Bonaire

James Finies, participated in the official High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) side event, "From Doha to Action: Accelerating the 2030 Agenda through Collaborative Approaches to Spillovers, Multidimensional Poverty and Integrated SDG Implementation," held at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
The conference brought together representatives of governments, the United Nations system, academia, and civil society to discuss practical approaches for accelerating implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with particular emphasis on multidimensional poverty, policy coherence, and ensuring that no one is left behind.
Speaking on behalf of the people of Bonaire, Mr. Finies welcomed the discussion but spoke with emphasis that sustainable development cannot be achieved where the people most affected are excluded from decisions that shape their future.
During his intervention, Mr. Finies stated:
"I am James Finies from Bonaire, a Caribbean island under Dutch administration since 2010."
Referring to the Forum's emphasis on coherent policymaking and addressing structural barriers to sustainable development, he asked:
"In line with the UN commitment to 'leave no one behind' and to reach those furthest behind, how can the international community expect Bonaire to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals while fundamental development decisions are made by a European Dutch government thousands of kilometers away rather than by the people of Bonaire themselves?"
Mr. Finies stressed that sustainable development requires more than economic policies—it requires meaningful participation, inclusive governance, and accountability to the people whose lives are directly affected.
Finies concluded with the following question to the international community:
"Shouldn't meaningful inclusion, democratic participation, the right self-determination and accountability be recognized as prerequisites for sustainable development in territories such as Bonaire that have no representation, no United Nations oversight, no accountability to the international community, and are governed externally below the United Nations threshold of democratic self-governance?"
The intervention builds upon concerns previously raised before United Nations human rights mechanisms, including the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), regarding poverty, inequality, participation in decision-making, cultural identity, education, and sustainable development in Bonaire.
The promise of the 2030 Agenda to leave no one behind must also apply to the people of Bonaire. Sustainable development requires that those living in externally administered territories are fully included in decisions affecting their future and are afforded meaningful participation, transparency, and accountability in the development process.
James Finies and BHRO reaffirmed its commitment to working constructively with the United Nations, Member States, regional organizations, and civil society to promote human rights, inclusive development, and equal opportunities for the people of Bonaire.
James Finies- Founder of Bonaire Human Rights Organization, Leader of Partido Pueblo Progresivo