The treatment of detained foreigners during detention in Sint Maarten can generally be described as humane. This is the conclusion of the Law Enforcement Council (the Council) following an inspection carried out on this in 2024, as well as on the quality of the related task performance of the judicial organisations involved. The Council also looked at the extent to which the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and human or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on this subject were followed.
Treatment detained foreigners
The Council notes that the humane treatment is largely due to the personal efforts of the
staff working at the foreigner detention center. The dedication and drive of the staff ensure
that there is a humane situation for detained foreigners, despite serious staff, financial and
material capacity shortages. Nevertheless, the Council is of the opinion that these capacity
shortages pose unacceptable risks to the integrity of the detention process and the safety of
staff and detained foreigners.
Strategic steering
Based on the inspection, the Council has concluded that the steering at strategic level by the
Ministry of Justice on the CPT’s recommendations has been insufficient. The inspection
concludes that of the nine recommendations of the CPT, six were (partially) followed and
three were not followed.
Recommendations Council
In the report, the Council makes 14 recommendations focusing on further improving services
to foreigners and better working conditions for staff. The Council therefore urgently requests
the attention of all those responsible for this so that the safety of staff and detained
foreigners remains guaranteed.
The full inspection report and all other Council publications are available digitally on the
website: www.raadrechtshandhaving.com.
