WILLEMSTAD - State Secretary for Kingdom Relations, Alexandra van Huffelen, seems to be on the same page with Curaçao about good reception of undocumented migrants on the island, mainly Venezuelans. Human rights organizations remain critical and believe that the Netherlands should not be satisfied too quickly.
After the visit, Van Huffelen said that the Netherlands and Curaçao have "a common interest" in improving the way in which undocumented migrants are detained. Her predecessor, Raymond Knops, stopped Dutch support for the renovation of the reception capacities in January. According to him, Curaçao failed to improve the reception.
Devastating Amnesty Report
Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas and Van Huffelen indicated afterwards that they found good reception important. Those seem obvious words, but Pisas' statement is striking, because Curaçao did not respond to a damning report issued by Amnesty International last year. During a visit to the island last December, the Amnesty delegation was unable to make an appointment with the Prime Minister.
Construction delays
Pisas now says that he was ill during the visit of the organization to Curaçao and that no replacement had been arranged from his ministry. He also acknowledged that construction had been delayed. But according to him, this is partly due to problems with the supply of building materials and a lack of personnel.
The Prime Minister, who is also the Minister of Justice, says he is happy that Amnesty will return in March and that he will certainly sit down with the organization. According to him, Curaçao has already started with some recommendations that Amnesty has made to improve reception.
“It is a positive step that Prime Minister Pisas and State Secretary Van Huffelen are talking about better conditions in the barracks for foreigners,” said Dagmar Oudshoorn, director of Amnesty Netherlands to the Caribbean Network. “We are pleased to hear that Mr Pisas has already taken concrete action in light of our recommendations. We hope to hear during our visit what concrete measures the government of Curaçao has taken to do something about this.”
Amnesty's concerns remain
At the same time, Amnesty still has "concerns about the inhumane conditions and the protection procedure, which people have almost no access to, and which only creates insecurity and rejection". The human rights organization Human Rights Defense Curaçao (HRDC) also reacts critically about the positive comments regarding the barracks for foreigners.
The organization says it is very pleased that both the Curaçao government and the Netherlands are now willing to improve the reception of refugees.
HRDC speaks of a Venezuelan refugee crisis that has lasted for almost six years. “The female refugees have been held in the women's prison for months. Something that is not acceptable internationally: refugees and convicts have to stay in separate wards. Unfortunately, the Secretary of State did not visit the female refugees."
The new foreigners' barracks on prison grounds, 'behind barbed wire, with bars everywhere and where a prison regime applies', HRDC calls 'cosmetic renovations'. It says expansion of the facilities "continues to constitute an intolerable deprivation of liberty, where humiliation, atrocities, abuse of power and unsanitary conditions continue."
HRDC also regrets that, despite an urgent request from the organization, Van Huffelen did not have time for a conversation.
'Foreigners no longer on prison grounds'
Funding from the Netherlands can be done differently, better and more effectively, according to HRDC, and should be spent on building a semi-open reception centre. “In addition, there must be a transparent and fair migrant policy in general and admission policy in particular.” However, according to Ieteke Witteveen, director of HRDC, an important first step is to no longer receive foreign nationals on a prison site. “That has to be done as soon as possible.”
