WILLEMSTAD — The Dutch Ministry of Justice aims to discuss the Statute Law passenger travel in the autumn (September, October, and November) during the National Council of Ministers.
The enactment will then be forwarded to the Council of State for discussion in the Lower Chamber.
Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin (CDA) is aware that there are substantial objections in this part of the Kingdom and that this subject is up for discussion in the Island Council’s meeting tomorrow. "Of course, we are paying close attention to the developments there", said a spokesperson of the Minister.
"We are in the middle of talks with the partners in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. It is a Kingdom affair, and therefore evident that such is being discussed." It concerns the country the Netherlands Antilles as well as Curaçao, St. Maarten, and Aruba. The discussions are being held telephonically as well as face-to-face.
In the meantime, the parties MAN and Forsa Kòrsou (FK) have also requested a public States meeting on the draft of the Statute Law passenger travel, which had turned up. They want to know if Premier Emily de Jongh-Elhage (PAR) and Minister of Justice Magali Jacoba (PAR) will be present to explain the government’s standpoint in this matter and elaborate on which measures the government is considering. MAN and FK also requested all correspondence between the Antillean and the Dutch government on this matter.
The two opposition parties had read that the Minister-President had already stated after a States’ motion last year, that a letter had been forwarded by the then Minister of Justice, David Dick. "Our parties do not agree to just sit around; that the parliament should continue to do all that’s necessary to squash the Netherlands’ intention and direction once and for all."
It is beyond questioning that a Statute Law passenger travel will be realized. The Dutch government has already concluded this in the coalition agreement. The spokesperson will not elaborate on the situation whether the final version of the Statute Law still encounters resistance with the Kingdom partners. However, he does emphasize that ‘it is certainly not the intention to make this some kind of Antillean arrangement (the return regulation of the then minister Rita Verdonk)’. "It simply regards a regulation of free travel for the entire Kingdom on a reciprocal basis applying to all Dutch citizens."
The Island Council will be meeting on the Statute Law passenger travel tomorrow. The coalition and the opposition oppose the interpretation of the law, of which a draft recently turned up. Together they want to take a hard line against the Statute Law. In particular, it regards the possibility to deport and declare a Dutch citizen as persona non grata from another part of the Kingdom. According to the draft, this could even happen to someone who has already been living there for more than ten years if there is a question of ‘compelling reasons of public safety’.