WILLEMSTAD – The government of Curaçao is expected to reimburse €6,875 to the Kingdom of the Netherlands following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concerning the treatment of Venezuelan migrants on the island.
The compensation stems from a recent ECHR judgment in which the Kingdom was ordered to pay damages to seven Venezuelan nationals. The case relates to incidents involving their treatment while in detention in Curaçao.
According to the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Kingdom will first pay the compensation to the affected individuals, as required under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The costs will then be recovered from the responsible country within the Kingdom—in this case, Curaçao.
“Like all ECHR rulings, the Kingdom will comply with the Court’s final decision and ensure that compensation is paid,” the ministry stated. “As is customary, such payments are initially covered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and subsequently charged to the relevant jurisdiction.”
The ministry clarified that the ECHR declared complaints related to general detention conditions inadmissible. Instead, the violations identified by the Court relate to a specific incident within the detention center and procedural shortcomings, for which compensation must be paid.
The Dutch government emphasized its commitment to upholding international human rights obligations across all parts of the Kingdom, whether in the European Netherlands or the Caribbean countries.
At the same time, it reiterated that migration and human rights policy remain primarily the responsibility of individual countries within the Kingdom. Intervention at the Kingdom level is only considered if a country is structurally unable to guarantee fundamental rights, which, according to the ruling, is not the case for Curaçao.
The statement also noted that the Netherlands has provided support to Curaçao in recent years, particularly since 2019, to strengthen migration procedures and align them more closely with international standards.