Dear Editor,
When the Netherlands attached what many consider quite harsh conditions to COVID-19 liquidity support, including the need for a Caribbean reform entity, many politicians and legal experts in Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten voiced their outrage and concern about the violation of human rights and the potential trampling of our autonomy; this caused the decolonization movement. There continues to be, understandably, confusion about the decolonization movement. I would like to clear up as much of it as I can.
It’s not about independence but autonomy.
Decolonization means the release of one country or territory from political control by another country. It includes different constructs. At the end of one process is full independence, at the end of another is our current constituent status. According to Julio Romney (2020), “Simply, the transitioning from a colony to a non-colony status involves the dismantling of governing structures that preserve the colonial status quo for an indigenous structure. To this end, the UN General Assembly has concluded that the process of decolonization can be realized through independence, by association or integration within an existing State.”
Twenty years ago St. Maarten, through referendum, chose to become an “autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.” So, for those of us who believe that we are fully decolonized and that our associative state is satisfactory, you are well within your right. But there are those of us who believe that the democratic deficits that exist within the Kingdom are too great to accept. This is why I proposed the establishment of a Constitutional Affairs and Decolonization Committee, which was unanimously supported in Parliament.
In November 2020, 11 Members of Parliament signed a motion giving the President the mandate to commence a United Nations fact-finding mission, because we believed that as a Kingdom partner, St. Maarten should be treated fairly, without discrimination and that our autonomy and the right to manage our internal affairs should be respected.
This movement is not about independence. Only the people can say whether or not they are ready for independence through referendum.
Democratic deficits and discrimination
In March 2020 a joint alternative report was written by academic experts and civil society organizations and coordinated by the Dutch Section of the International Commission of Jurists (NJCM) in which it was stated that “the European Netherlands are a majority in the Kingdom government and therefore are always able to overrule the ministers plenipotentiary of Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten. Furthermore, due to the fact that there is no Kingdom parliament, the Dutch parliament acts as the Kingdom parliament without the other countries having a right to vote. Scholars have referred to this as the democratic deficit or colonialism. Consequently, this historically-grown constitutional imbalance upholds racialized discourses and practices.”
I understand that discrimination may be a word that hasn’t been used before in talking about our relationship with the Dutch Government but there is both academic and legal agreement on this matter lest we forget historical context.
For years the Caribbean islands in the Kingdom have been awaiting the installation of a dispute regulation (Geschillenregeling). The Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten have pleaded for the regulation and an accompanying independent body that will be able to issue decisions following disputes within the Kingdom. Why has this regulation not been implemented as yet? Or do we not deserve to have a mechanism that allows us to object to a situation when we find ourselves holding a different opinion to that of the Netherlands? The dispute regulation may well be one of the main tools to eliminate the democratic deficit. However, it remains on hold for whatever reasons.
At this moment our people and this country remain extremely vulnerable. Our economy has been devastated and with an increase in poverty, our people are living in conditions that are unacceptable. So, what are we fighting for exactly? Equal treatment in the Kingdom.
The temporary laws that cut the benefits from civil servants should be just that; temporary. To be decolonized means to be free from political control by the Netherlands. With a new Dutch government being formed it is my hope that new negotiations and agreements can take place.
Most importantly, if we are indeed equal citizens within the Kingdom then not only do our people deserve more – they deserve better from politicians here and in the metropole.
MP S. Ludmila Duncan
