WILLEMSTAD.- Curaçao does what is available to help undocumented Venezuelans who arrive on the island, but Curaçao is not required to grant asylum to anyone who invokes that request. This in the context of the reality that we live internally, for Curaçao is a small island living with 160,000 inhabitants. In addition, Curaçao is not part of the treaties on granting political asylums. By the way, there is no law in the world that can force a country to give asylum, said the Minister of Justice, Quincy Girigorie during a press conference held yesterday in the Council of Ministers.
The Minister’s statement came as a reaction to a report from the “Human Rights” commission that focuses mainly on the treatment that Curaçao is giving to Venezuelan citizens. You could say that the Minister does not grant this report almost no value, because those who investigated this matter looked only in one direction and did not take the trouble to see the other side of the coin.
According to Mr. Girigorie, motivated by the total situation of Venezuela and the refugees who come here to Curaçao, a lot has come to the attention of international organizations on the issue of how undocumented people are being treated. According to the Minister’s words: “Curaçao is and remains open for all nationalities.”
There is a group of people who make requests for stay permits, and that is the way in which a foreigner can legally settle here, as in other countries of the world. The Minister admits that the situation in Venezuela generates some pressure on the different institutes that are part of the chain of admission and expulsion. But the best possible way has been to create procedures to deal with this issue. Logically every day you learn something different.
The Netherlands is also giving some support based on their expertise on this matter. Holland is part of the treaty that regulates the status of asylum, but Curaçao does not, and yet the Netherlands helps Curaçao as far as necessary.
Since June 2017, the Government of Curaçao received a number of petitions requesting protection. There is a commission that evaluates each case in particular. In the event that a person asks for protection (not asylum), this person must prove that his life is in danger. The moment a person is detained as an undocumented person, they must prove and inform immediately, either after or during the interrogation that they require and urgently need such protection.
But for every case that has been evaluated, no protection is granted without grounds. At the time of the meeting with the press, the Minister was not in a position to share exact figures on the petitions requested for protection nor the numbers of the quantity have been honored so far.
