THE HAGUE--Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) suggested on Friday that the St. Maarten Parliament be asked if it still supports the conditions to receive Dutch liquidity support.
“Are you prepared to suspend the liquidity support and to first enter into talks with the St. Maarten Parliament to see whether the plans for support in the current situation can still be executed?” Van Raak asked Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops.
Van Raak submitted five written questions to the state secretary on Friday in response to the petition of the St. Maarten Parliament to the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and to the Working Group of experts on people of African descent. The petition seeks to “investigate violations of a UN-mandated right to a full measure of self-government for the St. Maarten people.”
The Dutch Member of Parliament (MP), who will not be returning to the Second Chamber after next week’s elections, asked Knops whether he shared the opinion of the majority of St. Maarten’s politicians that the extensive financial support to the island is a form of oppression, racism and colonialism. “Do you share my concerns that investments for the St. Maarten people are only possible if there is sufficient support for this in the local political establishment?”
Van Raak asked the state secretary if he was willing to request that the St. Maarten government quickly organise a referendum about the proposal to become independent. He enquired whether the state secretary also saw possibilities to organise some form of a survey among the people in St. Maarten to get their opinion.
“The Netherlands gives a lot of money and assistance to St. Maarten. We did so after Hurricane Irma and we again do so during this coronavirus crisis. It is also a crisis situation in the Netherlands, and the people here have it difficult too. Yet, I keep defending that we need to keep giving assistance to St. Maarten – money that is being paid for by the Dutch taxpayer,” said Van Raak in an invited comment.
“Now we again hear that we oppress people, and that we are racists and colonialists. We even read that in the American newspapers, while we only provide help. These acts by St. Maarten politicians are wrecking the kingdom. This is exactly the reason so many people in the Netherlands do not want anything to do with St. Maarten anymore. This hurts my heart,” he said.
