THE HAGUE - The Netherlands will structurally make funds available through the so-called Country Packages, up to 45 million euros in 2025, to improve the operational capacity to support and strengthen law enforcement in the countries of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten (CAS).
The Dutch government has responded to questions put to the standing committee for Kingdom Relations about a recently published report by the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV). This concerns the AIV report 'Security and the rule of law in the Caribbean', but also the 'Latin America Organized Crime Study for the Kingdom of the Netherlands' by InSight Crime, which was commissioned by the Dutch government.
"The Netherlands supports the countries in strengthening law enforcement by implementing cooperation policies and kingdom laws", is the answer to the question to what extent Dutch involvement interferes with the autonomous status of the countries in the Kingdom.
Practice shows that the countries still need a lot of support from the Netherlands. The financial support of 45 million euros will give 'a considerable boost to the joint approach to undermining and the joint fight against cross-border crime within the Kingdom'.
In addition, the Caribbean countries are committed to structurally improving various components in the chain through the measures from the National Packages. And that this support is necessary, is apparent from an earlier statement by the Undersecretary in July 2020, namely that 'if the Netherlands withdraws support, a problem will arise'.
“To jointly deal with the forms of crime as mentioned in the InSight Crime report, a long breath is needed. Dutch support is indispensable for this, for example through the deployment of officers and judges, the expansion of the sustainable subversion approach or the strengthening of border control in the coming years.”
When it comes to cross-border, organized (drug) crime, the Dutch government states that through investigative cooperation in the Caribbean, attention is focused on making the Caribbean part of the Kingdom (more) unattractive for criminal activities, in order to minimize the national effects.
It is argued: "If the Caribbean is unattractive for crime in the drug-producing countries, it is expected that this will have direct effects on cocaine smuggling, but also on the illegal money flows from the region to the Netherlands.”
