The VVD of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte wants to restrict immigration to the Netherlands for residents of Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten (see Saturday paper). The proposal is not likely to go anywhere, as both coalition partner CDA and the main opposition party PvdA oppose such, while freedom party PVV – which is also "tolerating" the Rutte cabinet – wants to go even a step further by sending Antillean criminals in Holland back to their respective islands.
If all this sounds like a broken record, it's because something similar has been tried already on numerous occasions by other Dutch ministers such as Verdonk and Hirsch-Ballin. The only real difference is that this time Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba are not included, because they have become special overseas public entities of The Netherlands.
At the moment there is actually a process to come to a new Movement of Persons Law as part of the governing accord, but VVD concluded that the islands were not cooperating. That is somewhat true, because they understandably want their citizens to continue to have free access not just to the European part of the Kingdom, but also to the three new public entities that were part of the dismantled Netherlands Antilles.
VVD claims that an average one-third (33 per cent) of the populations of Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten now in fact live in the Netherlands, with Curaçao the highest at 45 per cent. This "Antillean and Aruban" community there has grown by 32 per cent in the last decade.
Be that as it may, any measure that is considered discriminating against Dutch passport holders within the Kingdom based on what part they are from is likely to be thrown out by the Council of State and the European Court, as experience has already shown. One of the underlying reasons is obviously that it involves the so-called "mother country" taking steps that can be seen as "against" its colonies –something that is frowned on internationally – and not the other way around.
That does not mean VVD's argument that there are, after all, still regulations for European Dutchmen establishing themselves on the islands has no validity. In the end those restrictions too arguably can be considered discriminatory, although there is some precedent regarding the need to protect small labour markets.
At the same time, the restrictions on moving from The Netherlands to the islands have been relaxed over the years to the point where in practice they don't amount to much anyway. The persons involved basically must have income or jobs, which qualifies just about everybody, because few are likely to come to live on the pittance given here in financial aid to the unemployed, at least compared to the social benefits in the Netherlands.
In short, there is really nothing to fear from eliminating the last remaining restrictions for people from Holland when it comes to admittance, so as to achieve true reciprocity within the Kingdom. If the Dutch Caribbean were to take such action in a unified manner, it surely would discourage "more of the same" from VVD politicians and others.
