SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - The Kingdom of the Netherlands abstained from a United Nations resolution recognizing the trafficking of enslaved Africans and slavery as a crime against humanity.
Sint Maarten, Aruba, and Curaçao were not consulted beforehand. They responded — together — with a formal joint resolution presented directly to the Dutch Parliament.
Of all the international developments recorded in Parliament's 2025–2026 Annual Report, one stands out for its symbolic and constitutional weight.
When the United Nations took up a resolution recognizing the trafficking of enslaved Africans and slavery as "the gravest crime against humanity," the Kingdom of the Netherlands chose to abstain. Sint Maarten, Aruba, and Curaçao — three countries with deep and direct historical ties to Atlantic slavery — were not consulted about that decision.
The Response
The three Caribbean countries of the Kingdom moved quickly. During the Tripartite Consultation held in The Hague on June 4, 2026 — chaired by Parliament President Sarah Wescot-Williams — the delegations from Sint Maarten, Aruba, and Curaçao drafted and adopted a joint resolution.
The resolution was submitted directly to the delegations of the Dutch First and Second Chambers during the subsequent IPKO (Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultations) on June 5–8, 2026.
According to the report, the joint resolution expressed the delegations' "concerns regarding the absence of prior consultation with the Caribbean countries of the Kingdom on a matter of significant historical and societal importance."
It also raised broader questions about "consultation and representation within the Kingdom" and formally requested a written response from the Kingdom Government.
The Parliament's foreword names this as one of the year's most significant international moments: "Sint Maarten spearheaded the discussions and fully supported the Joint Resolution expressing the disappointment of Sint Maarten, Aruba, and Curaçao, with the Kingdom's abstention."
The Broader Constitutional Pattern
This episode did not occur in isolation. Throughout the year, Parliament was engaged in the work of an Expert Group on the "Democratic Deficit" within the Kingdom — a formal body mandated by the IPKO to examine how Caribbean countries of the Kingdom can have a stronger, more meaningful voice in Kingdom decision-making.
That Expert Group, chaired by Dr. Aubrich Bakhuys of Curaçao and including Dr. Rachnilda Arduin representing Sint Maarten, was expected to submit its final report in time for the January 2027 IPKO in Sint Maarten.
The UN slavery resolution episode is thus both a historical grievance and a live constitutional argument: Who speaks for Sint Maarten in the Kingdom's international positions?
Under what obligation must The Hague consult its Caribbean partners before abstaining from a vote that concerns their history and identity?
