PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, Justice Minister Anna Richardson, and Finance Minister Ardwell Irion on Thursday held a ministerial consultation with Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops and State Secretary for Security and Justice Ankie Broekers-Knol to discuss the Joint Regulation on Border Control.
This bilateral agreement between the Netherlands and St. Maarten was due to end on May 1. However, parties decided on Thursday to extend the agreement until December 31.
The agreement was signed by the two countries in December 2017. Its aim is to strengthen St. Maarten’s borders.
According to government, parties discussed an interim evaluation of the agreement during Thursday’s ministerial consultation. The evaluation report was compiled by the Immigration Department, the Customs Department and the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard.
“Based on this evaluation, it was acknowledged by all parties that many of the measures within the plan of approach have been realised. Additional personnel have been hired, technical assistance from the Netherlands is being provided, and material to better monitor and control our borders has all been acquired.
“There are, however, a number of measures from the plan of approach that have not yet, or not sufficiently, been realised. As a result, all parties agreed to extend the joint regulation until December 31, which also is in line with the advice of the progress committee,” said the Justice Ministry in a press release on Friday night.
“There are still funds available and the programme has not been [completed – Ed.] in terms of the training and personnel,” said Jacobs on Friday.
The Justice Ministry said the agreement could be extended beyond December 31, due to the ongoing effects of the coronavirus COVID-19 crisis. Authorities will discuss a possible extension when the crisis is over, said the Justice Ministry.
“I would like to express my profound gratitude to the Immigration, Customs and Coast Guard personnel for their continued work in improving our border security. I also would like to thank our kingdom partner, the Netherlands, for their assistance in strengthening St. Maarten’s borders,” said Richardson on Friday.
The joint regulation falls under the joint responsibility of the Dutch State Secretary of Security and Justice, the Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations, the Dutch Minister of Defence, the Dutch State Secretary of Finance, and the St. Maarten Justice Minister.
A progress committee comprising persons from St. Maarten and the Netherlands, monitors the agreement’s implementation and is tasked with advising the respective parties on the progress made.
When news of the ministerial consultation broke on social media late Thursday, several persons in St. Maarten mistakenly thought the meeting had to do with the island’s internal border. As authorities on both sides of the island are currently limiting border crossings in response to COVID-19, persons were worried that the situation of limited border movement was extended until the end of the year.
“To clarify, I would like to advise the general public that this decision has nothing to do with, and has no relation to, the current border measures that are in place between Dutch St. Maarten and French St. Martin,” said Richardson.
