SXMElections.com

PHILIPSBURG--“Discriminatory” is how National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament William Marlin has described the naturalization process that requires passing tests in the Dutch language in order to gain Dutch citizenship.

Marlin said in Tuesday’s meeting of Parliament’s Permanent Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Affairs and Kingdom Relations that the situation warrants looking into by MPs possibly at the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultations IPKO next year.

“It is discrimination that only the Dutch language is applicable. … Dutch approach is that if you want to live in the Dutch Kingdom you have to speak Dutch,” Marlin said. However, this is not the correct approach, he said, because the entire kingdom does not speak Dutch and the Dutch language is not the only official language of the kingdom. Official languages in the kingdom include English and Papiamentu.

Marlin pointed out that English had been agreed on as an official language in a motion passed during the constitutional change movement that brought about country status within the Dutch Kingdom for St. Maarten.

Fellow National Alliance MP George Pantophlet agreed with Marlin that the naturalization test in Dutch was “discriminatory.” He said that in the past the tests were in English, a language that more people on St. Maarten speak and are comfortable with.

Since 2011, persons who want to become naturalized must sit and pass nine examinations (five in English and four in Dutch). The four Dutch examinations cover speaking, reading, writing and listening. To pass the examinations, candidates must have at least a high-school-level understanding and application of the language and must earn 86 per cent or more on each test.

Similarly, English examinations covers speaking, reading, writing, listening and requires the same pass mark.

The fifth English test is an orientation and general knowledge test on the candidate’s awareness of the country and kingdom history, culture, laws and other topics.

The tests in Dutch and English are applicable for St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius while the tests are administered in Papiamentu and Dutch in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.

Tests are held at different times of the year. Some computer skills are necessary, as the reading, writing and listening examinations are done on computer. The speaking examinations for English and Dutch are administered in one-on-one sessions between exam officials and candidates.

Only after a candidate has successfully passed all nine examinations, conducted by the Ministry of Education’s Examination Division, can the application process for naturalization start.

Applying for Dutch nationality also requires the candidate to have at least five consecutive years of residence (no gaps). The candidate must be willing to relinquish his or her current nationality should Dutch citizenship be granted. Dual citizenship is allowed only in very special cases such as the country from which the candidate holds citizenship forbidding the giving up of its citizenship or if relinquishing the citizenship would affect inheritance.

The committee meeting held on Tuesday was to debrief committee members and other MPs about topics covered at IPKO and to address issues of concern for the next IPKO slated for next year in the Dutch Caribbean.

One issue for which MPs want solutions to be found are persons who have lost their Dutch nationality (gained by naturalization) due to a clean-up at the Civil Registry. This has occurred across the Dutch Kingdom in the recent years. The revoking of nationality has had a domino effect, as it puts into question the nationality of children and in some cases grandchildren of the persons who are affected by the loss.

Dutch nationality, in general, is passed from parent to children (via blood, as it is commonly referred to). This is the case even if the Dutch nationality was gained via naturalization.