4.5 Current policy and policy reinforcements – Caribbean Netherlands
Discrimination is prohibited, irrespective of whether you are in the European part of the Netherlands or on the islands of the Caribbean Netherlands. Although the right to equal treatment and the prohibition of discrimination – guaranteed in Article 1 of our Constitution and international treaties such as the European Convention on Human Rights – also apply in the Caribbean Netherlands, legislation on equal treatment still does not apply fully in the Caribbean Netherlands. This partly ensues from arrangements the national government and the public bodies made on the limited introduction of legislation (legislative restraint) following the political reform in 2010. The introduction of the comply or explain principle entails that legislative restraint is abandoned. In the period ahead, deliberations will focus on legislation that needs to be amended in the context of the introduction of the comply or explain principle; an amendment to the equal treatment legislation will form part of this operation.
In the autumn of 2022, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations will complete the exploratory study of options for implementing equal treatment legislation in the Caribbean Netherlands. The study will result in possible follow-up steps to be taken in collaboration with the islands.
Human rights protection is presently not safeguarded in a uniform way when it comes to the issue of equal treatment. Discrimination is prohibited in the European and in the Caribbean parts of the Netherlands. Although Article 1 of our Constitution as well as international treaties such as the European Convention on Human Rights also apply in the Caribbean Netherlands, to a large extent legislation on equal treatment still does not apply in the Caribbean Netherlands.
Improving human rights requires a sound infrastructure. For example, it is vital that an organization where discrimination can be reported is established on the islands, open to residents with questions and complaints about the government, employers or any other parties. In the European Netherlands, the Municipal Antidiscrimination Provisions Act ensures that, as far as possible, Dutch citizens can seek support in their immediate environment when facing discrimination. The Act guarantees every citizen access to an antidiscrimination agency. As the Act does not apply in the Caribbean Netherlands, it should urgently be implemented in the Caribbean Netherlands.
The NCDR calls for the urgent elimination of both formal and factual differences in the protection of human rights between the European and the Caribbean Netherlands by laying down a fixed timetable for the speedy implementation of equal opportunities legislation in the Caribbean Netherlands and human rights treaties such as the UN CRPD, and for ratifying the Istanbul Convention. This Convention imposes requirements on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in all its aspects. The Convention came into effect in the European Netherlands on March 1, 2016, but not in the Caribbean Netherlands. The State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport promised the Dutch Parliament in a letter of February 25, 2022 that he will take steps towards ratification of the Convention in the Caribbean Netherlands and announced his intention to ratify the Convention in 2025. i
The rights of LGBTIQ+ persons in the Caribbean Netherlands should also be brought into line with the rights that exist in the European Netherlands. The ‘Transgender Act’ – which is currently in force in the Netherlands and which states that only an expert opinion is required to change legal gender registration – is not yet in effect on the BES islands. At present, transgender persons only have the option to change their gender registration in the European Netherlands by following the Dutch procedure, before then registering the change on the BES islands. This is unnecessarily time consuming and costly for those involved.
Article 227 of the BES Islands Civil Code also still specifies that a child can only be adopted by a mixed-sex couple or a single person. This requirement was changed in the Netherlands as early as 2009. Partner’s pension rights for same-sex partners are also not yet regulated. The core objectives on sexual diversity do not yet apply on the BES islands, either. The new civic education directive (including a passage on the right to a safe environment irrespective of, for example, sexual orientation) is not yet in force on the BES islands. The NCDR calls upon the government to also rectify this situation as quickly as possible.
Parliamentary Documents II 2021-2022, 28 345, no. 256.