MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND MINISTER OF VSA HELD MEETING TO DISCUSS THE WAY FORWARD

The Government of Sint Maarten, under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development & Labor ( VSA), met during a closed door meeting on Monday, June 15, 2020 – with the sole objective to deliberate on the plans to support the initiative of Justice Minister Anna E Richardson. Key civil servants of both Ministries, and their respective legal counsels also attended the meeting.

Since the inception of the initiative to execute the percepts of the L.T.U (Ordinance on Admittance and Expulsion) and the L.A.V (Ordinance on Foreign Labor), as it relates to the protection of our borders, a Specialized Taskforce Committee has been commissioned to take the lead.

Both the Minister of Justice Anna Richardson and the Minister of VSA Richard Panneflek echoed the sentiments of the Council of Ministers that the execution of this initiative must be done in line with international human rights and maintaining dignity for all. Protection of all residents (documented and undocumented) is also an important facet of this initiative, with an aim to ensure that either persons or institutions are misused for the unlawful access to permits (employment / residence).

A commitment to communicate on the way forward, the plan and the phases of the execution will be communicated to the general public by DCOMM, and persons are encouraged to follow the press releases on the Government of Sint Maarten websites and social media platforms.