ST. EUSTATIUS–The St. Eustatius Government will file a complaint against the Dutch Government with the United Nations (UN).
Attorney Jared Genser of Perseus Strategies has been retained by the Island Government to help it secure a full measure of self-government on the basis of absolute equality within the Kingdom of the Netherlands as required by international law.
Statia was part of the Netherlands Antilles from 1954 until that non-independent country’s dissolution in 2010. In 2005, Statians voted to remain a part of the Netherlands Antilles, because they had substantial autonomy within that constituent country of the Kingdom, Genser said. The Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and Statia was subsequently forced to become a “special municipality” of the Netherlands.
This legal status is in contravention of international law, Genser said. Government cannot collect its own tax revenues, cannot set its own budget without the approval of The Hague, and cannot make decisions about its own personnel.
Government, he said, is exceptionally frustrated by countless ongoing decisions that are taken by The Hague or those acting on its behalf in St. Eustatius that thwart the will of the people as represented by its democratically elected representatives.
Given the total unwillingness, to date, of Dutch Government to negotiate a new status that would be consistent with international law, Statia is left with no choice but to proceed in this manner, he said. St. Eustatius, however, “would strongly prefer to resolve these issues amicably and through negotiation and reaffirms again its willingness to enter into such a dialogue process immediately.”
These same sentiments were also sent to Dutch State Secretary for Interior and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops and the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/72094-statia-files-complaint-against-dutch-government-with-un
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