Foreigners welcome in Antilles,
must comply with rules, says Dick
PHILIPSBURG-- Foreigners are welcome in the Netherlands Antilles. However, they need residence permits, Justice Minister David Dick said in reaction to comments that a grace period is needed to legalise immigrants who have been residing in St. Maarten for lengthy periods.
“My father is from Trinidad. We have a system and that’s what I want. Giving the signal that we are a country where anybody can enter and leave as they feel like cannot be,” Dick stated
Consul of the Dominican Republic in St. Maarten Doris Elsa Vasquez Martinez has called on authorities here to institute some form of grace period to legalise immigrants who have been residing on the island for lengthy periods. She has also called for a solution to the island’s immigration problems.
Martinez said that while the Consulate respected the laws on admission and expulsion, it had some serious concerns about undocumented workers, particularly those from the Dominican Republic, who ended up being affected by raids, in some cases through no fault of their own.
She said immigrant workers, documented or not, contributed heavily to the island’s economy and if their labour were to be removed, St. Maarten’s economy and its vital tourism sector would be severely affected.
Dick: “We are responsible for the Netherlands Antilles. I cannot be held responsible for the Ministers of Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
“We have decided to put things in order in the Netherlands Antilles. We have a judicial state with a system of licences.
“We are trying with our policy to have these two aspects under control. My task is to take care that the people of the Netherlands Antilles have an acceptable standard of living and that it’s a decent country where others comply with our rules.”
He stressed that the Antillean government had been studying how to deal with the foreigners who were already here. However, he said he could not assume the responsibility for foreigners who reached pension age while having no right to a pension, or for children not going to school and becoming criminals.
He said government had good contact with the consuls. “They are invited to a reception in Curaçao to deal with topics such as money laundering and human smuggling, together with representatives of the United States of America.
“It’s important for us that everyone who wants to live in the Netherlands Antilles has a decent life. We take all complaints of the Consulates seriously and try to come to agreements in good cooperation.”
When the Immigration plan is ready to be executed, controls on who can stay and those who cannot stay will commence, he said.
