WILLEMSTAD - The potential group of workers in Curaçao is too small to maintain the non-working part. Emigration and population decline are causing less labor participation. It is now sixty percent and, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) it is decreasing. The aging population in Curaçao is increasing.
At a strategic round table meeting, organized by Human Rights Defense Curaçao (HRDC), it appears that Curaçao is not using the potential that is available.
This concerns a young undocumented group of workers who have been forced to earn their living in the informal sector for years. According to the human rights organization, this situation causes lawlessness and illegality.
“Most crisis migrants, who turn to the human rights organization's helpdesk for help, want to legalize their temporary or non-temporary stay and thus contribute to the economy of Curaçao by, among other things, paying taxes and paying social security contributions.”
CBS studies show that the informal sector, where these people earn their income, mainly includes construction and domestic labor.
The Social and Economic Council (SER) explored this issue and concluded that a selective migration policy can be effective in resolving shortages in the labor market, stimulating economic growth and offering an alternative to the informal sector.
The high labor immigration has a strong dampening effect on the increase in the deficits in the AOV (pension) fund. Contributions from migrant populations in general have a positive effect on the labor market situation, education level, and income level in Curaçao, according to the SER.
While the Justice Department's admissions policy is willing to legalize undocumented people, only those who have become undocumented due to the pandemic and were previously legal. There is no pardon for the largest group, who did not enter legally.
It is different when it comes to attracting foreign forces. Work permits are issued to foreign workers based on the law. In the future, the issuance of these work permits will be simplified and digitized, says the Ministry of Social Development.
Round table meeting
At the strategic round table meeting, it quickly became clear that the Curaçao government cannot handle the migrant problem alone. Stakeholders from the private sector, trade unions and NGOs must also be involved to get migrants to work and integrate into society.
According to the participants in the meeting, continuing to ignore the seriousness, complexity, and scope of the social challenge surrounding migration and working in Curaçao is no longer an option and is even undesirable.
According to the participants in the meeting, government, social partners, civil society, and science are indispensable to jointly arrive at sustainable solutions for one of the greatest social challenges of our time: how do you integrate migrants into the labor process?
First meeting
The strategic roundtable meeting was the first in a series aimed at gaining a better understanding of all relevant stakeholders on how migrants could contribute to the socio-economic development of the country in general and to the labor market in particular and how can be used to increase the opportunities and reduce the risks.
The participants in the meeting came from the trade unions, the public, and private sectors, and civil society. Earlier, the Social and Economic Council (SER) organized an organized symposium 'Migration and Socioeconomic Development' and the Ministry of Social Affairs published a study entitled Building a Life, Building a Nation.