It will be interesting to see how Member of Parliament (MP) Omar Ottley’s amendment to the National Ordinance on Admission and Expulsion LTU (see related story) granting undocumented children born in St. Maarten legal residency fares.
According to the United People’s (UP) party leader, his proposal had already been reviewed by the Council of Advice and the Social and Economic Council SER. He said their comments were incorporated, but did not mention details.
One aspect is, of course, Dutch citizenship and whether those involved should also be granted such. That would probably require consultations at the kingdom level.
With the final draft now at Parliament it won’t be long before people find out whether there is majority support for this initiative from the opposition benches. It seems obvious that youngsters “from here-self” to live and grow up in this country should have at least permanent residency.
Just like compulsory education regardless of legal status, it’s a human rights matter.
