Bosman law proposal in Parliament Wednesday

The Daily Herald writes that the law proposal of Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman to regulate the registration of persons from Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten in the Netherlands, will be handled in the Second Chamber next week Wednesday. Parliament on Friday announced its schedule of plenary sessions for next week.

The controversial law proposal, opposed by the governments of the Dutch Caribbean countries and organisations for persons of Dutch Caribbean origin, has been scheduled for Wednesday evening at 18:30. During the meeting, which can be viewed live via the Website of the Second Chamber, Parliament will handle the so-called first term. Bosman will first elaborate on his initiative law proposal, after which the Members of Parliament will share their views on the proposed legislation and pose questions.

Several parties, such as the Democratic Party D66 and the ChristianUnion CU are against the law proposal. At the end of the meeting, a date for the second term of the handling is expected to be set. Initially the meeting was scheduled to take place in the second week of February, but it was postponed due to the packed agenda of Parliament.

Dutch Caribbean organisations in the Netherlands have already called on their members to mobilise and protest against this law proposal, which they deem racist and in violation of a number of international and European conventions, also because people from the islands have a Dutch passport and as such are Dutch citizens. The Consultative Body for Dutch Caribbean persons OCAN said the law would lead to apartheid.

The Bosman law proposal seeks to regulate the registration of persons moving to the Netherlands from Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten. Bosman’s objective is to prevent poorly-educated people from establishing in the Netherlands, where, according to him they have no future. Bosman’s motto is that the islands should invest more in their own people through education and provide better social facilities to combat poverty, so they don’t have to come to the Netherlands in search of a better future. If approved, the law would allow persons from the overseas countries to stay in the Netherlands for six months after which they would have to apply for a residency permit. This permit would only be issued if the applicant complies with a number of conditions. The applicant should be able to provide for him/her and his/her family, have a minimum education level and speak the Dutch language. A permit will be refused if the applicant has a criminal record and will be expelled from the Netherlands if he or she poses a severe threat to public safety.