Toward Reparatory Justice for the Colonized St. Martin People
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘬𝘶 𝘐𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, “𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘋𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴,” 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 24, 2026, 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘭 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘶𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.
I thank the Baku Initiative Group for the opportunity to participate in this timely and important discussion on the right to self-determination, highlighting principles, practices, and contemporary challenges. I am Dr. Rhoda Arrindell, president of the One St. Martin Association, also known as One SXM, an association of people aspiring to be fully free of colonialism and seeking reparatory justice to live with dignity and peace in the Caribbean.
Search the definition of colonialism in any dictionary, and you will find that colonialism basically involves control or domination of a people or region by a foreign state or nation. As we approach the end of the United Nation’s Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, my homeland, a 37-square-mile island in the Caribbean Sea, remains colonized, although colonialists and legal pundits will try to convince you otherwise, with formulations like “autonomous country” and “overseas collectivity” to describe the political status. But do not be deceived because after almost 400 years, the St. Martin people, historically and culturally one people and a majority of African descent, remain colonized by the Dutch and the French.
European colonialism’s basic tenet is that Europe is superior, and all other peoples are inferior. Therefore, Europeans should control and decide the fate of these inferior beings, while European empires are constructed with their resources, including their blood, sweat, tears, and bodies. In fact, during the gravely inhumane crime of Transatlantic Chattel Slavery, Africans were regarded as property, and, upon Emancipation, European slaveholders were compensated for loss of this “property.” This notion of supremacy and entitlement persists after five centuries of European presence in the Caribbean, guiding policies and practices toward our region.
Given this context, I would argue that it is a misrepresentation to speak of post-colonialism or post-colonial contexts when colonialism never ended, certainly not for us or our region. One SXM subscribes to the declaration in United Nations Resolution 1514 that “the subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights … and is an impediment to the promotion of world peace and co-operation.” And we renew our previous calls to the United Nations, the Baku Initiative Group, and other sponsors of decolonization to intensify efforts to ensure that this decade marks the end of all forms of colonialism, fulfilling the promise of the 1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
As part of this process, we call for the refinement of the United Nation’s language and frameworks related to colonialism, as well as the corresponding amendment of the list of non-self-governing territories to accurately reflect our lived experiences as a colonized people. These measures would contribute to holding the Dutch and French states to their international legal obligations regarding decolonization. The current state of our world underscores the consequences of failing to accurately identify, acknowledge, and address colonialism. Meaningful progress toward self-determination and justice requires this correction.
Dutch colonialism intensified following the 2017 hurricane Irma which devasted our island when the Netherlands offered structural assistance under conditions which were labeled “an indecent proposal” by then Prime Minister William Marlin. Using the opportunity to circumvent a long-standing dispute with Marlin, the Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte purportedly threatened Marlin with the island’s expulsion from the Kingdom if Marlin did not agree to two conditions:
- Accept the three-member Integrity Chamber designed by the Netherlands, with a Netherlands member and chairman, although this construct had been ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in 2016;
- Relinquish border control.
When Marlin resisted these conditions, he was forcibly removed from office by the Netherlands, with the cooperation of the Netherlands-appointed Governor and other local politicians. By then the Governor had taken control of the emergency operations in coordination with the Netherlands. Even before the government had assessed the full extent of the damage to develope an adequate response, the Netherlands set up a trust fund, to be managed by the World Bank, and recovery projects overseen by the yet-to-be-created National Recovery and Program Bureau (NRPB). Originally proposed for increased its grip with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 by imposing additional conditions for the island to receive liquidity support in the form of a loan.
With the constitutional change on October 10, 2010, rather than become more self-governing, the St. Martin people experienced more direct interference by the Dutch state. As with the constellation of the Netherlands Antilles before, the island’s leadership continues to complain about the “democratic deficit” within the Kingdom. This “democratic deficit” has become a recurring theme in meetings between representatives of the Netherlands and the territory’s leadership, and in January this year, a group of experts was tasked with studying this phenomenon and producing a report within nine months.
The “deficit” was considered so grave that on November 5, 2020, the chair of Sint Maarten’s Parliament was mandated to “communicate with any and all third parties on its behalf, where it concerns all matters” related to a motion declaring actions by the Netherlands that interfered with the territory’s “right to a full measure of self-government based on absolute equality with the Netherlands” null and void. With this mandate, in March 2021, the Washington-based Choharis Law Group, “working on behalf of the Parliament and citizens of Sint Maarten¹,” submitted a petition to the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance and to the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, claiming that the Netherlands had discriminated against the people of the island and violated their rights. In August 2021, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination communicated its concerns about the charges against the Netherlands, citing its own findings, and giving the Netherlands until 2027 to report back with remedies to address the violations.
In pursuit of reparatory justice for the crimes against humanity committed by the Netherlands and France against our people, One SXM joined the Caribbean Reparations Commission as an associate member. This affiliation has permitted us a voice in the 2026 revision of the CARICOM Ten Point Plan for Reparatory Justice, which was formally launched on June 18 at the Next Steps conference in Accra, Ghana between the African Union and CARICOM. In this revised manifesto, present-day colonialism in the Caribbean is denounced. Our membership has also afforded us a seat at the table in discussions with the African Union on the issue of reparations as the Plan calls on apologizing European states, institutions, and families to follow up in negotiations for repair and healing.
Recently, One SXM openly expressed our regret with the decision by the Netherlands and France to abstain from voting on the United Nations Resolution Number A/80/L.48, Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime against Humanity, passed by the United Nations General Assembly on March 25, 2026, the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. We see this decision to abstain as an affront to our people, to our ancestors who were forced into chattel Slavery, and to future generations of St. Martiners, adding salt to unhealed wounds.
The shared abstention reflects not only the Netherlands’ and France’s reluctance to fully acknowledge the gravity and legacy of the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans, but further highlights the legacy of colonialism and the continued distance between decision-making powers on the island and the lived experiences of the people they govern. As a people of African descent living within these colonized territories in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of France, we are offended by those governments’ lack of commitment to “human rights, equality, and inherent worth of every person” as emphasized by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the presentation of the historic Resolution.
This decision, taken without our consent, underscores the inadequacy of the Netherlands’ apology offered by former Prime Minister Mark Rutte on December 19, 2022 and King Willem-Alexander on July 1, 2023 for the Dutch Kingdom’s role in Slavery and the transatlantic trafficking in enslaved Africans. Just as inconsequential with this decision is the French Taubira Law of 2001, which recognizes this crime against humanity.
Furthermore, the St. Martin people remain involuntarily associated with, and affected by, the actions of the colonizing states, including their support of wars and other atrocities. When the United States of America government blew up Caribbean fishermen, invaded Venezuela and kidnapped the president, bullied Caribbean leadership into submission, or slow-starved our Cuban neighbors, whether with the implicit or explicit endorsement of the European colonizing states, the St. Martin people are implicated in actions that go against our values and interests. And despite the violence that has accompanied European colonization, Caribbean people have lived in harmony with each other, proclaiming the region a zone of peace.
The double standard is clear: the people of the Netherlands and France exercise their internationally recognized right to self-determination, as affirmed by the United Nations, but our people do not. As a non-self-governing people, our future continues to be determined within constitutional frameworks established by France and the Netherlands rather than through a genuine exercise of self-determination in accordance with United Nations principles. Today’s brand of colonialism is often cloaked in project funding and “lack of capacity” and “security” concerns, yet the effects on the St. Martin people are the same as they were before 1960, perpetuating a cycle of underdevelopment and importation of Europeans to administer key pillars of education, finance, health, and justice.
One SXM remains convinced that, as declared by the United Nations, “the continued existence of colonialism prevents the development of international economic co-operation, impedes the social, cultural and economic development of dependent peoples, and militates against the United Nations ideal of universal peace.” As stated, the legal, political, and financial imbalances inherent in the colonial structure keeps our people in a dependent state, and the elected leaders are dissuaded from speaking out against these injustices, further eroding confidence in our elected leaders and the pursuit of veritable democracy.
Furthermore, there remains outstanding an unequivocal commitment to discontinuation of colonialism and disbursement of reparations. The Netherlands and France created the legal, financial, and fiscal policies for the enslavement and trafficking of Africans and the legacy of colonialism in St. Martin. The St. Martin people feel justified in our request for reparatory justice for the crimes committed against us and our ancestors.
Echoing the call by CARICOM, and the UN Secretary-General to European nations on March 26, to begin the healing by engaging in good-faith dialogue on reparatory justice and to take concrete steps toward addressing this grave historical injustice, we ask this gathering to assist the people in the non-self-governing territories to realize our inalienable right to complete our freedom by regaining our independence. And we demand reparatory justice for our structural underdevelopment.
Finally, One SXM requests assistance with drafting, implementing, and monitoring a free and fair referendum on the matter of independence within a reasonable time. Failure to render this justice to the St. Martin people is anti-humanity and a signal that the humanity of colonized peoples is of less value than their colonizers’. As Caribbean people, we simply want to live with dignity and in peace among our neighbors, as full sovereign beings, able to determine our fate for ourselves.