Marechaussee cooperation input extended indefinitely   | THE DAILY HERALD

 

THE HAGUE–The input of the Dutch military police, the Royal Marechaussee, in the Dutch Caribbean via the so-called flexible pool has been extended. The Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten have agreed to prolong the cooperation for an indefinite period.

  Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops sent the protocol to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Tuesday. He and the ministers of justice of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten signed the protocol in Aruba on January 24, 2019.

  The initiative to arrive at a renewed protocol to deploy personnel from the flexible pool of the Royal Marechaussee came from Knops. “The new protocol, which goes into effect per January 1, 2020, for an indefinite period, prescribes that the input of the Royal Marechaussee in St. Maarten, Aruba and Curaçao is mainly based on the execution of border-related police tasks, which is a primary task of the Royal Marechaussee,” Knops stated in an accompanying letter to the Parliament.

  The four countries expressed the desire to prolong the protocol that was signed in 2014. The renewed protocol takes into consideration that the Netherlands and St. Maarten arrived at an agreement in December 2017 to strengthen the border supervision.

  It was further considered that based on the experiences of the past years, the conclusion was that the structural input of the Royal Marechaussee is a necessity, which makes it fitting to extend the protocol for an indefinite period.

  The objective of the flexible pool is to provide support of the Netherlands to the Dutch Caribbean countries by the Royal Marechaussee. The flexible pool is aimed at executing border-related police tasks in the three countries where additional capacity and expertise is needed.

  The tasks of the Royal Marechaussee include border control, police tasks at the airport and the maritime borders, maintaining of public and legal order, combating of drugs and weapons crime at the borders, and combating human-trafficking and human-smuggling.

  A minister of justice may request that a part of the personnel capacity of the flexible pool can be temporarily deployed for tasks that require additional capacity or expertise in the area of immigration and combating violent crime.

  The commander of the Royal Marechaussee in the Caribbean carries the responsibility for the personnel of the Royal Marechaussee working in the flexible pool. The flexible pool of 43 fulltime persons has been working in the Dutch Caribbean since 2008.

Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/85178-marechaussee-cooperation-input-extended-indefinitely

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