PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams commented recently on the law initiative of Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party to regulate the permanent residence of people from Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten in the Netherlands.
"During the course of many years numerous Dutch politicians and political parties have come with suggestions to limit the movements of persons from within the Kingdom in the Netherlands. To mention just one we have to just go back to the days of the politician Rita Verdonk, who played around for a while with similar laws. There have been several attempts at limiting in particular the entering and settlement of persons of the Caribbean part of the Kingdom in the Netherlands and they have tried different ways to come to those restricted measures. Their ambiguous argument is that too many people from the Caribbean go to the Kingdom and are creating a mess in the Netherlands. That is the argument that is being used," commented the PM.
The Prime Minister continued by explaining that in the recent case of the member of parliament Bosman drafting an initiative law of persons from the island settling in the Netherlands, that that case concerns matters of unity and equality within the Dutch Kingdom, something which is being disregarded by the Bosman law. "The thing is that Bosman has drafted this is a matter regarding the Netherlands and that the Netherlands can set those requirements as it relates to restrictions to other citizens in the Kingdom. This would be done without consultation of equal Kingdom Partners. This is a law geared towards citizens of Dutch Kingdom. Our Parliament has said absolutely no to this initiative, as have numerous other institutions in the Netherlands. Many Dutch politicians have the false opinion that other persons from the other countries in the Kingdom are affecting the Netherlands. This is definitely not the case and is completely false. To this Law Initiative I say absolutely not; this is one kingdom. If the Netherlands wants to discuss items with regards to the other countries in the Kingdom it should always occur within the context of equality," concluded the Prime Minister.
From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister
