WILLEMSTAD – The Curaçao Parliament has unanimously condemned the Kingdom’s abstention on a United Nations resolution concerning transatlantic slavery, arguing that the position was taken without properly consulting Curaçao and sent a “confusing and painful” message to descendants of enslaved people.
The controversy centers on a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on March 25, 2026. The Ghana-sponsored resolution addressed the trafficking of Africans and slavery as crimes against humanity and raised the issue of reparatory justice. It was adopted with the support of 123 countries.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands abstained, in line with other European Union countries. The Dutch position was based partly on legal objections to terminology in the resolution and concerns surrounding the implications of reparations.
For Curaçao, however, the dispute is not limited to the substance of the resolution. Parliament is challenging the process through which the Kingdom’s international position was determined.
During a public meeting on September 7, shortly before the end of the parliamentary year, Curaçao Parliament unanimously adopted a motion criticizing the failure to consult the Caribbean countries before the vote.
According to Parliament, the abstention was particularly painful given the formal apologies for the Dutch slavery past delivered by then-Prime Minister Mark Rutte in 2022 and King Willem-Alexander in 2023.
The motion argues that the consequences of slavery are not merely historical for Curaçao, pointing to continuing social and economic inequalities that Parliament associates with the island’s colonial and slavery past.
Parliament has now instructed the Curaçao government to pursue a binding arrangement with the Netherlands establishing procedures for consultation before Kingdom positions are taken on slavery-related matters and other foreign-affairs issues affecting Curaçao.
The objective is to prevent a repeat of a situation in which the Netherlands determines a Kingdom position without Curaçao having an effective opportunity to participate.
Curaçao will also formally communicate its own position to the United Nations, making clear that it supports the slavery resolution and that the Kingdom’s abstention did not represent the position of the Curaçao Parliament.
The dispute could now develop into a broader constitutional discussion about how foreign policy is conducted within the Kingdom and how much influence Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten should have when the Kingdom speaks internationally on matters directly affecting their societies.