THE HAGUE - Strengthening (maritime) intelligence-driven police action, integrity policy and cooperation with partners such as the judiciary and the police. These are some of the spearheads for 2020 for the Coastguard Caribbean. Combating drug trafficking and illegal migration, especially from Venezuela, are also high on the agenda, as is the search and rescue task. In 2020, the coast guard will continue to work on the replacement of the shore radar and the capacity for reconnaissance from the air.
The Kingdom Council of Ministers, at the suggestion of Minister of Defense Ank Bijleveld, approved the 2020 Coast Guard Annual Plan for the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. In addition to good equipment, the Caribbean Coastguard must also have sufficient staff available. Then it is possible to be operational 24/7 in the future and to act in an information-driven manner in the maritime domain.
Sustainable financing
Attention is also paid to the sustainable financing of a future-proof Coast Guard. Agreements have now been made on the financing of the replacement capacities in the Long-Term Plan 2019 - 2028 between the four participating countries: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The Netherlands had already promised financial means for the joint financing of the replacement investments, the other three countries will also start contributing according to a "growth model". This guarantees the continuity of the Coast Guard's task performance.
Minister Bijleveld emphasizes that the coastguard in the Caribbean operates in a very turbulent environment, under sometimes dangerous circumstances for the personnel. The influx by sea of foreigners from Venezuela is growing. With its limited resources and people, the coast guard cannot intercept everybody who comes to the ABC Islands illegally. The coastguard intercepted a record number of drugs last year and thereby made an important contribution to the fight against organized crime. For law enforcement, it is essential that the four countries in the Kingdom continue to invest in the Coast Guard.
Blind spots
Since 2019, the Coastguard has been supporting the Caribbean in monitoring maritime borders. This is done through extra sailing days from the station ship and deployment of both the Curaçao and Aruban Militia. They help the service teams of the Coast Guard Caribbean on Aruba and Curaçao until the end of this year.
According to Bijleveld, it is still important to address the so-called blind spots in the current detection system. These are caused by the outdated shore radar capacity, insufficient possibilities for patrols from Bonaire and a lack of permanent camera surveillance. In the Spring Memorandum 2019, the government has released one-off money to help the islands with the Venezuela-related (migration) problems. The coast guard buys mobile radars, cameras and drones from the funds made available and a boat jetty is built on Bonaire.
