WILLEMSTAD.- The Delegation of Curaçao, Aruba and the Netherlands that met this week in the Interparliamentary form (IPCO), reached consensus on a list of agreements after deliberating different points of interest and common concern. The topic of Venezuela was very high on this list, and there were many deliberations that took place. During the IPKO a thought was launched for the introduction of one or another kind of visa for Venezuelans. During the deliberations, the different facets of the Venezuelan crisis and its consequences on the ABC islands were discussed.
It can be said that among the delegations, there are still agreements with the fact that this problem is a point of recurring concern and continuous attention in the Kingdom. The flow of Venezuelan refugees is something that has an impact on the social and financial terrain; and particularly on education, the labor market, health, economy, crime and in the framework of human rights. The effects on the tasks of the Kingdom in the area of external management and coastguard are also visible and tangible. The different scenarios of possible developments in Venezuela should be addressed by the working groups.
Subsequently, the delegations continued to question their respective governments about the management carried out or that should be taken on the crisis in Venezuela and also the management for the granting of aid based on Article 36 of the Statute of the Kingdom. The parliamentarians of Aruba and Curaçao will consider in a systematic, independent and active way, to share new information with the second chamber so that possible new problematic points can be pointed out in time, and be able to address them properly.
The delegations agreed with the Commissions on the Relations of the Kingdom of the 1st and 2nd Houses, the requests that the delegations of Aruba and Curaçao will request from the Secretary of State for Internal Affairs and Relations of the Kingdom, to give a glance on the advance, of the help that the Netherlands will offer on the accommodation of refugees and undocumented immigrants from Venezuela who are locked up in Aruba and Curaçao. Finally, the delegations found the opportunity to think and deliberate about the possibility of introducing a kind or type of Visa, either digitally or otherwise, for Venezuelans. But this topic will be scheduled again for the next IPKO in January of 2020.
