It appears the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament is finally seeing the light with a motion supported by the majority to call for free movement of people and goods within the Dutch Caribbean (see Wednesday paper). While the latter may be a bit more difficult to realise due to existing import duties and other obstacles, allowing persons from one island of the former Netherlands Antilles to establish themselves freely on the others makes all the sense in the world taking into account the historic, cultural, family and business ties involved.
Such a move also would address concern that the proposed Kingdom Law on Movement of Persons might erect barriers between the new overseas special public entities of The Netherlands – Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba – on the one hand and the autonomous countries Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten with which they share a common colonial past on the other hand. For the latter three that doesn't mean The Hague won't continue trying to impose restrictions on their residents moving to the Netherlands, but at least there seems to be the realisation that doing so between the islands is impractical and simply wrong from a moral as well as human point of view.
The Dutch legislators also have a point about some of the added difficulties just to travel within the Kingdom, such as higher airport departure fees. The idea of a ferry between the ABC islands sounds good, but it regards an open and often rough sea, and has been tried unsuccessfully before on several occasions as a business venture.
The issue no doubt will be discussed during next week's visit of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations Minister Liesbeth Spies, especially after Curaçao Justice Minister Elmer "Kade" Wilsoe (PS) made clear he is not cooperating with any Kingdom Law on Movement of Persons that hampers free movement between the islands. Whether Aruba will agree to allowing free admittance to all citizens from the other islands again in the future remains to be seen, but the motion is in any case a step in the right direction.
