From left: National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen and St. Maarten Minister Plenipotentiary Gracita Arrindell. Arrindell presented to Van Zutphen the book “Know Your Political History” written by authors Edgar and Julian Lynch.
THE HAGUE--Minister Plenipotentiary Gracita Arrindell met with National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen at his offices in The Hague on Wednesday to discuss matters concerning St. Maarten residents in the Netherlands.
Van Zutphen, who was sworn in as National Ombudsman on March 31, 2015, engaged in a discussion with Arrindell focused on enhancing support and providing relevant information to St. Maarten citizens living in the Netherlands.
Arrindell explained the purpose of the visit, saying, “It’s necessary to establish contact and visit one of the most important democratic institutions of government in our quest to provide as much support and information possible to St. Maarteners residing in the Netherlands.” She highlighted the government’s two main goals: “Generate more awareness among our St. Maarten-based citizens in the Netherlands about the positive impact this institution can have in regard to administrative questions they may have in relation to their dealings with government agencies.”
Furthermore, Arrindell addressed the challenges faced by students and young professionals, particularly those who have completed their studies but struggle with the high repayment terms of study financing. “Identify and address key issues affecting the well-being of many of our students and young professionals who concluded their studies yet struggle to make a positive start due to the high repayment study financing schemes, including high interest rates,” she explained.
She also pointed to the example of Bonaire students, where the Dutch government recently initiated the write-off of study financing debts. “A good example is the write off of the Dutch study financing debt of students hailing from Bonaire,” Arrindell said. She encouraged parents and students to attend the upcoming information session to be held by the Dutch study financing agency DUO in St. Maarten March 17-21.
The discussions also covered the challenges students face while studying in the Netherlands, with Van Zutphen pointing out issues such as affordable housing, proper insurance coverage and securing a civil registration number BSN. “The National Ombudsman, through his many years of engaged experience and personal visits to the islands, underscored the concerns and shared his findings facing students,” Arrindell said.
Further collaboration was proposed to address these issues, including sharing best practices with Aruba and Curaçao, and the reintroduction of the Kingdom scholarship, previously known as the Erasmus scholarship, which offers approximately 1,100 scholarships.
“I am very pleased with what turned out to be a very informative and pleasant discussion with Ombudsman van Zutphen, and look forward to a continuation of working together in the interest of improving the quality of life of our communities,” she said.
This meeting marked the first official courtesy visit to the office of the National Ombudsman, whose mission is to safeguard citizens’ rights in dealings with administrative authorities and improve government processes based on findings from investigations and published reports.
