State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen (centre) at SDKK.
WILLEMSTAD--Curaçao has run out of options to send back undocumented Venezuelans, who therefore remain in detention with no prospect of release. Human Rights Defence once again addressed this during the recent visit by Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Alexandra van Huffelen to the island.
Deportation is not possible after Venezuelan authorities banned all flights from the Kingdom of the Netherlands as of December 15. Repatriation via third countries has also become impossible since the Dominican Republic refuses to serve as a transit point any longer.
Migrants have been held in the SDKK prison’s women’s wing for months. According to Human Rights Defence, this is not allowed internationally because they are not convicted criminals and therefore cannot be detained as such without the intervention of the courts.
Construction work on the foreigners’ barracks.
The organisation is very pleased that both the local and Dutch governments are now willing to improve the reception of socio-economic refugees. But what that means in concrete terms is unknown.
They want the two countries to shift the emphasis from a new foreigners’ barracks at SDKK behind barbed wire, with bars everywhere and where a prison regime applies, to a humane reception without bars. “After all, cosmetic renovations and expansion of facilities continue to represent an intolerable deprivation of liberty, where humiliation, atrocities, abuse of power and unsanitary conditions continue,” stated a release.
According to Director Ieteke Witteveen, an important first step is to no longer receive foreign nationals on a prison site. “That has to be done as soon as possible.”
Funding from the Netherlands can be done differently, better and more effectively, it was argued. The money should be spent on building a semi-open reception centre.
“In addition, there must be a transparent and fair migrant policy in general and admission policy in particular.”
The organisation also regrets that, despite an urgent request, Van Huffelen did not have time for a conversation.
