Sint Maarten does not receive Dutch corona support due to a racism complaint at the UN | NOW

Sint Maarten is currently not receiving financial corona support from the Netherlands, because it has complained to the United Nations about alleged racism by the Dutch government. The conditions that Sint Maarten must meet in exchange for support return colonial rule, the complaint said.

It concerns an amount of more than 18 million euros that Sint Maarten now has to miss. The island has long been at odds with the Netherlands about corona support, and the related reforms.

Among other things, the establishment of an organization that has to implement the cutbacks and reforms, the COHO, kicks Sint Maarten against the sore leg. The establishment of the Caribbean Agency for Reform and Development would mean that the island would have to give up too much autonomy. Sint Maarten has been an autonomous country within the kingdom since 2010. The COHO must also deal with the support packages for Aruba and Curaçao.

The Council of State (RvS) was also critical of the COHO, because the powers of the body go too far. Reforms in exchange for support are logical to the Council of State, but it is still too unclear in advance what autonomy the islands must give up and what conditions they must meet. It was a still confidential advice, which Secretary of State Raymond Knops reluctantly made public this week because it had been leaked to various Caribbean media.

Knops took note of St. Maarten’s complaint “with great surprise”, he writes on Friday, because the country had previously agreed to the establishment of the COHO and the proposed reforms. As long as Sint Maarten is not clear about this, there will be no payment, says Knops. Earlier, he called the accusations of racism “nonsense”. There is no racist motive. We do not affect the autonomy of Sint Maarten. “He finds the accusations” very painful “.

Aruba will receive more than 100 million euros in support, Knops said on Friday. Curaçao does not need financial support for the time being. The Netherlands will continue to provide humanitarian aid such as food to the countries, if necessary. In return, the countries do not need to reform.

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