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Give us a ring if you want to quit the kingdom, Rutte tells Caribbean islands

DutchNews.nl, Saturday 20 July 2013

Mountains and coral reefs added

to Dutch landscape

Dutch Caribbean islands which want to leave the kingdom of the Netherlands only have to say so and it will happen, prime minister Mark Rutte has said during a visit to the former colonies.

Rutte told the NRC newspaper that officials looked at him shocked when he made the surprise announcement during a meeting.

‘I said ‘if you want to leave and a majority of your people support that position, then it is possible. Give us a ring and we will arrange it’,’ the prime minister told the paper.

Financial support

Rutte said he hoped the offer would prevent any further requests for financial support. ‘I told them that if we ever talk again about the way the state is organised then it will be if you want to leave the kingdom,’ the paper quoted him as saying.

The status of the five of the six islands changed in 2010. Curacao and Sint Maarten are now autonomous countries while Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius have the status of a local authority. Aruba has been independent since 1986.

Criticism

Rutte has visited all six islands during his visit and has been outspoken in his criticism of the way three – Curacao, Sint Maarten and Bonaire – are being managed, the NRC said.

In particular he has instigated a ‘far-reaching probe’ into the integrity of government on Sint Maarten.

The island’s justice minister was forced to resign earlier this year after it emerged he ran several brothels. There has also been criticism of the €9,000 a month paid to parliamentarians. Sint Maarten has just 39,000 residents.

Other islands also have financial troubles. In September 2012 Curacao was placed under a formal compliance order by the Dutch government when its budget showed a shortfall of 153m Antillean guilders, of which nearly 100m guilders was needed to cover debts from previous years.

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Van der Sloot pleads not guilty in Lima

RNW, 6 January 2012

The murder trial of Dutchman Joran van der Sloot in the Peruvian capital Lima has been adjourned to Wednesday, 11 September. During the first hearing, the Dutch defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder followed by theft.

Joran van der Sloot (Photo: ANP)

As a result of the adjournment, Mr Van der Sloot won’t have to plead guilty or not guilty to each separate count until next Wednesday. Observers say the move suggests the defence will seek to argue for manslaughter instead of murder.

Mr Van der Sloot is accused of murdering Stephany Flores in his Lima hotel room on 30 May 2010. The Public Prosecutor is expected to seek a 30-year prison term and a fine of 50,000 euros. If Mr Van der Sloot pleads guilty, the court has 48 hours to reach a verdict. If he pleads not guilty, the trial goes ahead.

Mr Van der Sloot has admitted killing Ms Flores in his Lima hotel room. But he claims he had acted on a violent impulse when he saw her read documents on his laptop relating to the disappearance of US teenager Natalee Holloway.

The 24-year-old Dutchman is the main suspect in the disappearance of Ms Holloway on the Caribbean island of Aruba in May 2005. He has never been charged due to lack of evidence. Ms Holloway was 18 when she went missing. Ms Flores was 21 when she was killed.

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Mountains and coral reefs added to Dutch landscape

RNW, 8 October 2010 - 10:44am | By Gijs van den Heuvel

(Photo: Auntiem)

The Netherlands is turning into a tropical country. No, it's not global warming. It's an extension of the small state on the shores of the Northsea by three little Caribbean islands, a remnant of the country's colonial past.

It has been discussed for what seems like ages, but on 10 October 2010 it is really going to happen: the country called "Netherlands Antilles", a former Dutch colony in the Caribbean, will be disbanded. Of the five islands, the two biggest will acquire an autonomous status in the Dutch kingdom. The three smaller ones - Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, jointly known as the BES islands - will henceforth be governed directly from The Hague on a par with municipalities in Holland, adding a whiff of the tropics to the flat country behind the European dykes. A sixth Caribbean island, Aruba, was given autonomous status much earlier, in 1986.

This remains unchanged.

The changes are the implementation of new legislation drawn up by the Netherlands' government a couple of years ago aimed at improving the governability of the "overseas dominions". They had already lost their colonial status in 1954. In several referendums held since 2004 the islands' populations have voted in favour of the new form of government.

Facts and figures

So how will people in the former Netherlands Antilles experience the new form of government? And will the Netherlands and the rest of the world notice anything?

The change in the kingdom's make-up will hardly affect the average Dutchman in Europe, but it won't do any harm to adjust a few of the most-cited statistics about the Netherlands. Such as these:

• The Dutch territory will expand by 322 square kilometres (roughly the size of Malta)
• The Netherlands will have a new highest point. It used to be the Vaalserberg in the province of Limburg, with an altitude of 322.5 metres. But this will be dwarfed by Mount Scenery on the island of Saba, which reaches 877 metres. And a good number two is The Quill on Sint Eustatius, at 600 metres.
• In addition to its flat, sandy Northsea coastline, the Netherlands will acquire coral reefs. Divers know they are found off Bonaire, but Saba and Sint Eustatius are also surrounded by coral reefs.
• The two official languages of the kingdom, Dutch and Frisian, will be accompanied by two new ones: Papiamentu (on Bonaire) and English (on St Maarten).

On the islands

The Antilles islanders will be faced with quite a few changes, although not everyone will notice these immediately.

• In 2011, the US dollar will be introduced as the new currency. Owing to their proximity to the US, they are mostly dollar economies anyway.
• Dutch and European law will apply on the islands.
• But some of Holland's laws which are radically at odds with the local culture on Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, will be introduced only gradually. These include liberal legislation on abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriages. The islanders will be allowed two years to get used to the idea before the laws come into force.
• Local schools have to change gears in order to better qualify pupils for Dutch school diplomas. The curriculum in subjects like history and geography has of course been adapted to the Caribbean location of the islands.

Misunderstandings

Friso Fennema, a spokesman for the Government Office for the Caribbean Netherlands told RNW that there are some persistant misunderstandings among the islanders. He would like to set the record straight:

• Many people believe that Papiamentu and English will be banned as official languages. That's not true; they will continue to be used.
• Many islanders are convinced that only European Dutch nationals can apply for government jobs. That is false, in fact 93 percent of vacancies are currently being filled by local applicants and that is not going to change.
• Employers on the islands fear that they will have to pay the European Dutch minimum wage, and are concerned that the unemployment benefit will be raised to the European level. That is out of the question, Mr Fennema said, because then the Antillean islands would become totally unattractive for Caribbean entrepreneurs.

Anthem

On Sunday 10 October the untitled national anthem of the Netherlands Antilles will give way to the Wilhelmus, the stately, sedate Dutch national anthem, dating back to the 16th century. But the Antilles anthem had a shadowy existence anyway, as every island had its own song.

It remains to be seen whether that will change in practice. Why on earth would the Caribbean islanders sing the words, "William of Nassau am I, of German blood". Speaking of which, many inhabitants of the flat European part of the Netherlands can't make sense of the anthem's text either.

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Farewell to the Netherlands Antilles

Farewell to the Netherlands Antilles

RNW, 9 September 2010, By Gerhard Verduijn

(Photo: RNW)

Does it mark the final act of de-colonisation, or is it the beginning of re-colonisation? The formal decision to break up the Netherlands Antilles, five former Dutch island colonies in the Caribbean, will almost certainly be taken today.

In the Caribbean, no tears are being shed over having to say goodbye to the Netherlands Antilles. The islands are reasonably close neighbours, but have never really been one unit, argues Gert Oostindie, director of Leiden’s Royal Institute for Linguistics, Geography and Ethnology.

“Family ties mean the links between the islands strong. But the only links they have as countries come from sharing the same colonial power. The islands felt unity was more a problem than a help.”

The two largest islands, Curaçao (population 144,000) and Sint Maarten (39,000), are set to become more or less independent. The Netherlands will take over the lion’s share of their debts and will keep an eye on the finances to prevent debt build-up in the future.

“They will remain part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but independent of the other islands in the Antilles. Curaçao and Sint Maarten wanted this status so they could take responsibility for their own development and wouldn’t have to worry about the other little islands,” explains Professor Oostindie.

The island of Aruba gained similar autonomy in 1986 and has booked strong economic growth since. Despite this, however, the issue has been a hot political topic for some time, especially in Curaçao, with many pushing for full independence from the Netherlands.

Price of autonomy

Those who would have preferred full independence to autonomy warn that the Netherlands will remain heavily involved in the two islands’ finances. They fear The Hague will be the source of unwanted interference.

Professor Oostindie dismisses such worries. He points out that the Netherlands has always had the power to intervene and that, in this respect, nothing has changed.

“What has changed is that the areas which the Dutch central government can deal with have now been better defined. These areas include monitoring state finances, but also the maintenance of law and order. Everything considered, most accept it’s better to work on this together.”

The smaller islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius and Bonaire, with a total population of 20,000, will experience more palpable changes. As ‘special municipalities’, they will come under direct Dutch rule. Professor Oostindie says they always felt they were the little brothers in the Antilles family and that they got a raw deal from big brother Curaçao. He reckons living standards, law and order and the political systems on the three islands are all set to improve with their new status.

Same-sex marriage

However, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Bonaire are socially conservative and Christian and are going to have to submit to aspects of Dutch legislation they find unpalatable. These include abortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia.

Professor Oostindie thinks there’s no way round this: “The first gay wedding on one of the islands within a year or two is a distinct possibility”.

The Netherlands colonised six islands in the Caribbean in the 17th century: Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten (east of Puerto Rico) in the Leeward Islands and Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao (off the coast of Venezuela) in the Windward Islands. They were centres of the slave trade. Nowadays, they are mostly known for their blossoming tourist industry.

In the 1950s, the first serious step was made towards independence: they received political autonomy. In 1986, Aruba became an autonomous part of the Netherlands. The other five islands became the Netherlands Antilles, part of the Dutch state, also with a degree of autonomy. It has taken decades to reach agreement on the latest changes to the islands’ status.

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Who gets to be Dutch?

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 25 January 2010 - 10:20am, by John Tyler

New draft legislation would make it harder to become a Dutch citizen while keeping another passport. At the same time, if approved, the bill could allow thousands of so-called latent Dutch people to finally become fully Dutch.

Ahead of Tuesday’s debate in parliament, Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin takes a practical approach to questions of acquiring citizenship. Clear rules, applicable to everyone, but some new limitations as well.

In answer to the question who can become Dutch, Minister Hirsch Ballin keeps it simple.

“One essential requirement for obtaining the Dutch nationality is the ability to express yourself in society as a Dutch citizen. And that requires knowledge and understanding of the Dutch language.”

A language test has been required for a few years now, but the new law extends the language test to those becoming Dutch citizens in the Dutch Antilles and Aruba (even on the islands where Dutch is not the principle language).

Restriction

The new law maintains the five-year residency requirement, but adds a restriction: a new Dutch citizen must renounce his or her former nationality.

For many, this is a controversial measure. On the one hand, there are at the moment about 1.1 million Dutch citizens who have another nationality as well. The trend in other western countries is to allow double nationality, given the increasing mobility in an era of globalization.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem is a Labour MP. He says:

“For the future there’s very little ground to hold on to that rule. Many other countries, and more countries every year, decide to give up on that principle of the one nationality. We’re one of the few countries in Europe that is still holding onto the one nationality principle.”

Exceptions

Others criticize the measure as not going far enough. The new law includes exceptions for those whose original country does not allow its subjects to renounce their citizenship, such as Morocco or Greece.

When the current cabinet was installed, it included two members with dual nationality. Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party questioned their loyalty to the Netherlands, and said dual nationals should not serve in government functions. Freedom Party MP Sietse Fritsma explains:

“The law of the Netherlands is not the same as for example the law of Turkey or Morocco. We should avoid conflicting systems of laws and duties. That’s the reason my party wants to get rid of dual citizenship for new cases.”

But the Freedom Party can be happy with another change in the nationality law. People who harm the interests of The Netherlands can now have their citizenship revoked. This change is thanks to the anxious climate following the bombings in New York, London and Madrid, and two political murders in the Netherlands.

The last change in the law corrects a long-standing inequality. Until 1985, a Dutch woman could not pass on citizenship to her children if she had a foreign partner and gave birth abroad. The new law corrects this, and could allow as many as 90,000 so-called latent Dutch to acquire citizenship.

Requirements for foreign nationals to become Dutch:

• Five years of residence in the Netherlands
• Pass test of Dutch language and knowledge of Dutch society
• Give up own nationality
• Never served time in prison or had to pay excessive fines in the last four years

Visit the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation website for more info

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Exit for the Antilles, but when?

NRC International, 7 January 2010 18:12, by our news staff

Saba, the smallest island of the Netherlands Antilles. Photo AP

The Dutch Antilles are set to disappear as a political entity, but before that happens, some obstacles need to be overcome.

In ten months the Netherlands Antilles will no longer exist. Currently the islands jointly enjoy special status as a separate nation under the Dutch crown, as does Aruba. As per October 10, Curacao and St. Martin will also become separate nations, while all other islands will be absorbed into the Netherlands proper. However, there are many obstacles to be overcome before this deadline can be met, varying from the legal to the financial.

In addition, the Dutch parliament still needs to approve the reforms and public referenda and scheduled elections in Bonaire and Curacao might get in the way. Deputy Minister Ank Bijleveld, responsible for the relationship with the Antilles, is sticking with the October 10 deadline for now.

Click here to see an infographic outling the troubled road to the Antilles dissolution.

Dutch MPs want same-sex marriage in Antilles

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 15 December 2009 - 9:18pm

A large majority in the Dutch parliament want same-sex couples to have the right to marry in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The MPs have backed a call to the government by the GreenLeft party to work towards achieving this goal.

Same-sex marriage is already legal in the Netherlands and will soon be introduced on the Caribbean islands of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius when they are given the status of "special local authorities" within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in October 2010.

But a majority of Dutch MPs also want this to apply to the Antillean islands of Curacao and Sint Maarten, which are set to gain greater autonomy under new arrangements governing the Netherlands' relations with its former colonies.

The Court of Justice for the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba ruled in June that the islands are under no obligation to give same-sex marriage a status on a par with marriage between a man and woman, a ruling which met with a positive response from the Antilllean government.