Dominicano Consul General angry
at sudden Immigration changes
PHILIPSBURG--In reaction to the arrest of two Dominicano girls on arrival in St. Maarten for allegedly not having proper documents, the Dutch Embassy in the Dominican Republic has indicated that children under 12 years of age travelling with legal guardians do not need visas to enter St. Maarten, as Dominicano law allows parents to sign over legal guardianship to a third party through a notarised letter.
Attorney-at-Law Jairo Bloem represented a five-year-old girl who was one of two underage children who travelled to St. Maarten last week and were detained at Princess Juliana International Airport although they had come with letters from their parents signing over legal guardianship to the people with whom they travelled.
Bloem argued that the law allowed children to travel with legal guardians and said local authorities had allowed this practice for years. He said they could not simply change practice without following the principles of transparency and fairness, and publicizing their intent to make changes.
The Judge in the Court of First Instance agreed with Bloem, ruled that the girl be released, and said the Immigration Department had a responsibility to properly publicise changes to its policy before implementing them.
Consul General of the Dominican Republic in St. Maarten Doris Elsa Vasquez Martinez, who had submitted a letter to the court in the case against the Lt. Governor over the arrest of the five-year-old girl, indicated that the practice of issuing a letter from the Consulate in favour of the parents was several years old.
She stated later this week that the rule on waiving the visa requirements when children under 12 years travelled with their legal guardians was not exclusive to Dominicanos entering St. Maarten, but also for many countries worldwide.
She questioned what authority the Immigration Department in St. Maarten had to question legal documents from the Dominican Republic’s Consulate drafted under Dominicano law. She intends to keep in close contact with local authorities and the Dutch Consulate to resolve the matter and provide clarity on the subject of visa requirements for minors.
The police later announced that persons allowing their children to travel with a third party would need a letter from the Court of Guardianship proving that the third party was a legal guardian.
However, Bloem again argued via this newspaper that this would create major problems, as it was not possible to determine what constituted legal guardianship in more than 200 different countries without risking the increase of administrative procedures for Dutch Consulates and local Immigration.
The five-year-old girl has since been released to her parents who live on the island, and the seven-year-old girl, who did not have legal representation, was repatriated on Sunday last week.
