Reaction to the remarks by Baudet (right).
PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina and Nation Opportunity Wealth (NOW) Member of Parliament (MP) Lyndon Lewis have issued scathing rebukes of recent remarks by Dutch far-right MP Thierry Baudet, calling his statements “racist,” “colonial,” and a direct threat to the island’s dignity and sovereignty.
Baudet, leader of the Forum for Democracy (FvD), suggested during a Parliamentary Committee for Kingdom Relations meeting that St. Maarten should be “repopulated” with 300,000 to 500,000 Dutch nationals to bring the island “completely under control.” He compared the vision to Dubai or Hong Kong, and advocated turning the Dutch Caribbean into a tax haven, while also proposing that Saba be used as a holding station for asylum-seekers.
Mercelina called the remarks “dangerously racist and deeply disrespectful.”
“St Maarten is not a commodity to be traded, nor a territory to be reclaimed by relics of a colonial past. We are not the backdrop for someone else’s ambition. We are a proud, self-determined people – anchored in our heritage, alive in our culture, and empowered by our own voice,” he said in a press release.
He warned that Baudet’s rhetoric undermines the democratic foundations of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. “This kind of colonial fantasy belongs in the darkest chapters of our shared history, not in the democratic chambers of the 21st century. If the Kingdom is to thrive, it must be built on the foundations of mutual respect, dignity, and genuine partnership, not domination, exploitation, or racial superiority,” Mercelina said.
He emphasised the island’s ongoing efforts to build a more inclusive and sustainable future and condemned any proposal aimed at cultural erasure or demographic manipulation.
“It is shocking and unacceptable that in 2025 any elected official in the Kingdom would suggest that cleansing our culture and flooding our island with settlers is a solution. What we need is solidarity, responsible governance and bold cooperation to address climate vulnerability, economic diversification, and our people’s well-being, not arrogance and absurdity,” the Prime Minister said.
Mercelina urged the Dutch Parliament to reject Baudet’s remarks and reaffirm their commitment to democracy and equality. “The Kingdom must never be a place where voices of division are louder than those of unity and justice. Let this moment serve as a litmus test of who truly believes in decolonisation, equality, and a future where all partners in the Kingdom stand shoulder-to-shoulder, not foot-on-neck.”
In a separate press release, MP Lewis also issued a firm condemnation of Baudet’s comments, which have sparked widespread outrage across the Dutch Caribbean. “The idea that our island should be overrun and reshaped by foreign settlers to serve someone’s imperial fantasy is not only deeply insulting, it’s a direct threat to the dignity, identity, and autonomy of our people,” Lewis said. “This is not 1625. It is 2025, and St. Maarten will not tolerate any return to colonialist ideology, no matter how it’s dressed up.”
Lewis cited the historical context of Dutch restrictions on migration to the former Netherlands Antilles under the Admittance and Expulsion Law LTU, contrasting it with Baudet’s modern-day proposal. “The Dutch in the past had restrictions on its own people, prohibiting them from overpopulating the then Netherlands Antilles by the Admittance and Expulsion Law LTU.”
He called Baudet’s vision “a disgraceful display of historical amnesia and political extremism.”
“Mr. Baudet’s comments are not economic proposals they are fantasies of dominance, rooted in a disturbing world-view that sees Caribbean people as expendable and Caribbean territory as exploitable.”
Lewis urged leaders across the Kingdom to speak out. “Silence or lukewarm responses in the face of this kind of dangerous speech are a form of complicity. If the Kingdom is truly committed to justice, equality, and decolonisation, then it must condemn these ideas in the strongest terms.”
