THE HAGUE--The law initiative to restrict the registration of immigrants from the Dutch Caribbean countries unfairly targets people from Aruba and St. Maarten because they are not the ones causing problems in The Netherlands, according to the Council of State (Raad van State).

 

"The concrete problems of school drop-outs, unemployment and crime mostly concern youngsters from Curaçao. It is not clear whether these problems also concern youngsters from the other two countries and why it is justified that Dutch citizens from Aruba and St. Maarten are treated similarly in the law proposal as those from Curaçao."

 

The Council stated this in its advice which was made public following the formal submission of the law proposal of Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party on Monday.

 

Bosman stated in his response to the Council that the objective of the proposal was to establish a general basis for the residency of Dutch citizens from the other countries of the Kingdom in The Netherlands.

 

"It doesn't befit to apply certain measures to one of the countries. It is not the intention to attribute the problems specifically to people from Curaçao," explained Bosman, who said that the explanatory note accompanying the law proposal had been adapted in this regard.

 

According to Bosman, the issue of unjustly targeting people from Aruba and St. Maarten would regulate itself because the measures of the law proposal would be applied to people from Curaçao when it became clear that the crime rate, school drop-out and unemployment was higher among this group of Kingdom citizens.

 

"Dutch citizens from the other two countries will experience little inconvenience by the measures in the law proposal because they will be able to obtain a residency permit as economic independent persons," stated Bosman.

 

The law initiative seeks to limit the residency of poorly educated, deprived people from the Dutch Caribbean. People from the islands can come to The Netherlands as a tourist and stay for six months, but those who want to extend their stay have to obtain a residency permit which has to be renewed annually. They can only get this permit and register at a municipality if they comply with a number of conditions.

 

These conditions include: having a job in The Netherlands, be able to financially fend for themselves, study, or have a direct family member in The Netherlands. People without sufficient education, the so-called starting qualification, will not be welcome, as well as people with a criminal record or those that are considered a danger to society. Immigrants are expected to speak the Dutch language. Students from the islands can still come to The Netherlands, but they have to follow a fulltime education.

 

The Council of State was highly critical of the law proposal. It concluded that there was very limited legal room for an admittance regulation and that there had to be substantial grounds to implement such a law. The Council cited the Dutch citizenship, the Kingdom Charter, the Dutch Constitution and international treaties in its advice.

 

"Considering the undivided Dutch citizenship, as defined in the Charter and applicable constitutional and international treaty obligations, the Council sees very limited legal room for the legislator to create an admittance regulation, and there have to be substantial grounds," the Council stated in its advice.

 

The Council's advisory department considered the explanatory note that accompanied Bosman's law proposal "insufficient" and advised the initiative taker to "at least" prepare a "bearing motivation" prior to its handling in the Second Chamber later this year.

 

Bosman contended that he wanted to make use of the available legal room as he was convinced that the law proposal complied with the legal prerequisites. He said he was aware of the Council's preference to regulate the movement of persons in the Kingdom in a Kingdom Law instead of a unilateral regulation, but added that so far the countries have not been successful at jointly regulating this matter.

 

The Council of State agreed with the initiative taker that the problems with a group of persons from the Dutch Caribbean were "severe" and deserved the "serious attention" of authorities and demanded a solution.

 

"It concerns an arduous problem that puts a heavy burden on society, especially in a number of cities in The Netherlands. These problems cannot only be solved by these municipalities." The Council agreed that the countries in the Kingdom had a shared responsibility to address this issue.

 

(The Daily Herald)

 

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