Illidge Road: --- Several elected officials, police and immigration officers from both sides of the island gathered at the newly built Immigration and Naturalization Department (IND) for the official inauguration on Tuesday afternoon.Acting Lt. Governor Reynold Groeneveldt said the IND plays a very important role when dealing with illegal immigrants who chose St. Maarten as their home or temporary home. Groeneveldt called on everyone to adhere to the rules of law since it is the basic principle for everyone. He said several thousand of persons made use of the opportunity to regulate their status which was provided by the Minister of Justice.
Leader of Government William Marlin said St. Maarten had been shortchanged and neglected over the years causing the influx of illegal immigrations to become unbearable. Marlin also called on employers to do the honorable thing and regulate their employee's documents.
Marlin said because employers have exploited foreigners over the years the island government has budgeted monies to hire some controllers that would visit these businesses in the near future. He said in the past St. Maarten had several departments dealing with immigration issues but they were either under-manned or under-equipped. Marlin said it is necessary for government to establish the various departments as St. Maarten approaches country status. He further said that this department should not be considered a place where illegal immigrants regulate their statuses but it should be a place that offers services to people who chose St. Maarten as their home. He said the situation that was created is immense and St. Maarten is forced to pay the price for what it was not responsible for. The island leader said while he is not interested in playing any blame game he would however, look forward to the day when the tasks of justice that is in the hands of the central government will be handed over to St. Maarten.Marlin said everyday he is confronted with people whose request for the BTA permit was denied asking for assistance but St. Maarten he said can only do so much and no more. He said St. Maarten intends to play by the rules and the business people who made use of the opportunity that presented itself with the large amount of undocumented persons on the island will be controlled and called to order.
Marlin said due to the years of neglect, the justice system will have to have a plan of approach before the island passes the test to become country.
Also addressing the gathering was Chief of Police Peter de Witte and Interim head of immigration Robert Barbeij.Just prior to cutting the ribbon to declare the department open Minister of Justice Magali Jacoba in her speech made sure she indicated that she is a true Antillean woman who loves each of the islands equally. Jacoba said it took a lot of hard work to bring them where they are today. She thanked the Dutch Government for making the funds available through the Safety Plans Netherlands Antilles and USONA for their role.
She said in 2007 the Antilles embarked on the reform on immigration in the Netherlands Antilles. One of the approaches was to confront the situation that relates to illegal immigrants on the islands, and that she said brought them to the signing of the Brooks Tower Accord. This program she said allowed thousands of illegal immigrants to document themselves and become legal residents. The Minister said while doing things right will be challenging they are committed to doing so. She said one of the requirements of the BTA was the establishing of an Immigration and Naturalization Department. The objective of the IND is to process residency permits in the most transparent and objective manner with a secure system that is effective and efficient. This new building has brought an end to the long lines of people waiting in the sun or rain to conduct their business. Jacoba said very soon the long waiting of residency permits would also end with the new system in place.
At the end the Minister handed out the first permit that is issued by the FMS system.
