In most countries, you will home quarantine if you have been traveling, although in The Netherlands is just a suggestion from the authorities, not mandatory as the KLM flight attendant announced over the PA arriving Amsterdam from Dubai.

But Curaçao they do things differently, so a returning resident who is just a faceless number, will upon arrival be placed in mandatory quarantine. This however only applies to a few of us because we have the wrong passport coming from the wrong countries, and absolutely not applying to the Dutch. Funnily enough, it doesn’t apply to the Chinese or the Italian tourists either, if the newspaper articles I’ve read are true.

But I’m just a faceless number,  no one cares about my struggles being COVID stuck all alone in Dubai for 4 months, missing my children like crazy. No one asks me how I have been coping being all alone in a country I do not know very well. No one considers that I’m desperate to get home to my children.
I’m just a faceless number.

Only one person got pulled aside coming off that packed KLM plane from Amsterdam on Wednesday, me the faceless number with my name on a sign. Being treated like a leprous criminal by the arrogant and rude Curaçao authorities after 24 hours of traveling with little sleep, and even less food almost broke me, but who cares I’m just a faceless number.

Walking through the sliding doors to the arrival hall, looking at all the people smiling and greeting their loved ones was incredibly depressing, because my children and husband were the only ones that didn’t get their loved one home.

I’ve been separated from my family for 4 months, but who cares cause I’m just a faceless number with the wrong passport coming from the wrong country.

According to the statistics online, UAE has around 3000 more cases of infected people than The Netherlands, but UAE is also the country that has tested most people in the world.  If the Netherlands had tested as many people, their number of infected people would be much higher because they have about 7 million more people than the UAE. In The Netherlands, there are more than 6000 people dead from covid19, in UAE there are less than 400.

The UAE has done a massive sterilization program throughout the country, Dubai was in complete lockdown for a month, it has been mandatory with face masks, gloves, and social distancing, extreme fines and jail time if not adhering to the rules and regulations. Cafes, parks, restaurants, beaches, malls, it’s all been closed. In The Netherlands, it’s been a little less strict.

In Dubai I’ve lived alone, I’ve been careful not to submit myself to any possible risks of getting infected, my covid19 test was, of course, negative upon departing Dubai, but no one in Curaçao has asked for this information because I’m just a faceless number.

I’m at a mental breaking point, but no one cares about that,  to the Curaçao authorities I’m just a faceless number because they don’t care about my wellbeing as long as I’m locked up not threatening their well-being.

This faceless number is a mother named Maggie, and all I want is to go home to Blue Bay,  and surround myself with my loved ones, home quarantining, but no one cares about that cause I’m just a faceless number.