Dutch cabinet rejects Bosman (VVD) law proposal

Dutch cabinet is distancing itself from the law initiative of the Dutch Parliament’s Second Chamber to restrict the registration of deprived, poorly educated Antilleans in The Netherlands. Dutch caretaker Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Liesbeth Spies made it very clear during an information session with the Antillean community in The Hague Wednesday evening that she didn’t support the so-called Bosman law, named after its initiative taker Member of Parliament (MP) André Bosman of the conservative VVD party.

“As a cabinet, we have distanced ourselves from the proposal, because it goes against the agreements that we have with our partners in the Kingdom for a joint approach,” said Spies. The VVD is the largest party in the current cabinet.

Bosman stated in a reaction that the VVD would proceed with the law initiative. “The Minister doesn’t have anything to do with this proposal, because it is an initiative of the VVD party in Parliament. The Second Chamber will continue the process,” he said.

The Minister explained at Wednesday’s gathering organised by the organisation for Dutch Caribbean persons in The Netherlands OCaN that, during the December 14, 2011 Kingdom Conference, it had been agreed to install a joint workgroup that would look at the movement of persons within the Kingdom. The idea is that from the findings of that workgroup, the Kingdom partners will formulate a joint proposal to regulate the movement of persons. “It would have been better if the VVD had awaited that proposal,” said Spies.

Bosman didn’t agree with Spies. “Mrs. Spies has a wonderful ambition that she wants to come with a joint Kingdom proposal, but that doesn’t concern us. I don’t have to wait for a total picture. As The Netherlands, as the Second Chamber, we can do our own thing. We have a right to draft our own legislation for The Netherlands,” he said.

At the Kingdom Conference, Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and The Netherlands acknowledged the importance of promoting and simplifying traffic between the countries. The workgroup has yet to report. The Bosman law proposal seeks to regulate the registration of poorly educated, underprivileged residents from Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten at municipalities in The Netherlands. The law proposal would, if approved by the Second Chamber, require people from the three overseas countries to obtain a residency permit. The residency permit would be denied if, among other reasons, a person doesn’t speak sufficient Dutch, doesn’t have sufficient income and a starting qualification, or has a criminal record. The law proposal was submitted late March this year and is currently at the Council of State for advice.

Source: “The Daily Herald” 2012-09-07