BRUSSELS - The Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe on the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ​​has urged the Dutch government to clarify the position of Papiamentu in the European Netherlands.

This is evident from an evaluation report of the committee that was sent to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament by Minister Ollongren (BZK) today. In response to a previous request, the government pointed out that Bonaire is not part of Europe and therefore the charter does not apply to the island, which is why there would be no need to clarify the position of the language.

During the site visit, however, the expert committee was informed that Papiamentu has traditionally been present in the Netherlands, as it has been spoken in the Continental European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands since the 18th century. The expert committee therefore encourages the Dutch authorities to clarify the traditional presence of Papiamentu in the European part of the Netherlands in the next monitoring round," said the committee, which will visit again in 2021 and expects an answer.