~ Calls for Parliament to be powerful in its rejection ~
PHILIPSBURG--The draft Kingdom Visa Policy has been classified by Justice Minister Roland Duncan as "meddling in our internal affairs." He told Parliament on Tuesday that St. Maarten has to be "powerful in our rejection of it."
The draft law seeks to implement a uniform visa to cover the Dutch Caribbean and place the issuance of this firmly in the hands of the Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister, moves to which Aruba and Cura�ao already have objected strongly.
The pushing through of this draft law in the Kingdom Council of Ministers would be the basis for much conflict, because St. Maarten, if not allowed to give consent before a visa is granted to an applicant, can refuse entry to someone holding a visa when he or she arrives at the country's airport, the minister said. "This can be the beginning of noncooperation if visas are not approved by us. ... The law now puts the two ministers in a conflict."
Parliament's Permanent Committee on Kingdom Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Affairs already has put together St. Maarten's position rejecting the visa law, to be sent to the Dutch Second Chamber. Now, Duncan's objections will be added to that "advice" to increase its weight. Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament (MP) Roy Marlin, who heads that permanent committee, said another meeting would be called to adjust the advice.
MPs were urged to attend that permanent committee meeting en masse by Deputy President of Parliament Leroy de Weever, who chaired Tuesday's Central Committee meeting. Parliament President Gracita Arrindell is on her way to the Netherlands for a working visit.
De Weever said the full participation of MPs in that meeting would ensure that the advice was drafted and would require less debate in a plenary session of Parliament when it was tabled for approval. National Alliance (NA) MP Dr. Lloyd Richardson expressed hope that the advice would be approved unanimously by all MPs.
NA MP Louie Laveist recommended that a motion be passed rejecting the Kingdom Visa Law to strengthen St. Maarten's position and to further support the objections brought forward by Duncan. De Weever said he did not see any reason this could not happen.
Duncan requested that Parliament ask the Council of Ministers to instruct Minister Plenipotentiary in The Hague Mathias Voges to object when the draft law was brought to the Kingdom Council of Ministers for a vote. Voges should use all possibilities "to stall" the adoption of the law, he said. This law, he added, does not take into account the Kingdom Charter, which gives each country certain autonomy in the kingdom.
Based on "vibes" emanating from the Netherlands, it appears that the Dutch Government "will push this through, regardless of the Kingdom Charter."
Duncan rejects the moves by the Dutch Government to treat the Kingdom Charter "as if it is new as of 10-10-10." He said the charter had been in existence for more than 50 years and the only change in 2010 was the addition of Cura�ao and St. Maarten as countries within the kingdom.
The move to a "one Caribbean visa" because it is good for foreign affairs is "nonsense," added the Justice Minister, whose authority it is now to issue visas. Further, he called it "despicable" that the Dutch Government would "dust off" a decree from 1873 that had never been applied to use now as the basis for the one Caribbean visa. That decree states that the visas are a foreign affairs matter and the competency of the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Duncan pointed out that his ministry was working with Anguillian authorities to regulate the passage of some 600 Jamaicans and Guyanese who are legally residing in Anguilla who need to travel via Princess Juliana International Airport or via the seaport. Those people require visas to enter St. Maarten under the current laws.
Duncan explained that even if those Anguilla residents were given 48-hour passes, there were no facilities for them to overnight at the airport if their flights had layovers. He said government was looking into the possibility of the Anguillian authorities having some sort of guarantee in place for these residents to travel via St. Maarten.
"What does the Kingdom Minister [of Foreign Affairs] have to do with this? This is a situation unique to St. Maarten," Duncan said, adding another example: that of the French side where a gentleman's agreement exists for non-national residents of the Dutch side. Those residents who are nationals of countries that require French visas are still able to go to the French side to shop and dine.
The Dutch Government does not have "a record of involving us" in the Caribbean part of the kingdom in its foreign affairs decisions, Duncan said. "Did they ask us when they were bombing Libya?"
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