FIRE BURNING – GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO WAKE UP! Dear Editor, please allow us to express our concerns on the illegal status of so many immigrants on Sint Maarten. We’re not saying that illegal residents are the sole reason for the problems on Sint Maarten and neither are we saying that people without blood ties to Sint Maarten are second class citizens. As a matter of fact, every legal resident of Sint Maarten has the right and duty to participate to the fullest in Sint Maarten’s society and make the best of his/her life. What we are saying is that the amount of illegal residents on Sint Maarten needs to be reduced drastically for more than one reason. The growing amount of illegal residents on St. Maarten is weighing the proverbial seesaw down, forcing the legal residents and government to be ‘up in the air’ with their feet swinging for stability, instead of grounded to our society and how we can move forward. Many ministries and parts of our society are feeling the pressure when it comes to illegal immigrants. Think about the compulsory education law that makes our public schools have to enroll illegal children to their schools, (some who do not speak English and with their parents contributing little to nothing financially) causing classes to increase in size and the costs of education to rise. Children’s right to education should be respected, but this also counts for those who are residing here legally. There are many unpaid bills for medical treatments of uninsured illegal residents left at the Sint Maarten Medical Centre. Every person has the right to have access to medical care, but government (and thus tax paying residents) pays for these bills. For years we have been talking about increasing the compliance of paying taxes, but it is known that many employers are hiring illegal residents that don’t pay wage tax. It is known that there are illegal residents that conduct business without paying any income or profit tax. Government needs to create a safe environment, but we often read about criminal activities conducted by illegal residents, some ending up in our jails for years. At the end of the day, the tax payer is paying all of these bills. Too often also, illegal residents become victim of abuse by their employer, are living in deplorable circumstances and are dealing with social ills like poverty and domestic abuse. Because illegal residents live ‘below the radar’ they are usually afraid to seek justice or any help from the authorities. These standards should not be allowed on Sint Maarten. Not for legal residents and not for illegal residents. Some heavy fines need to be issued for illegal constructions and hazardous living situations. Look at the disaster last weekend with the fire in Colebay that left over a hundred homeless. Does a similar tragedy need to happen in Cay Hill, Cay Bay, Middle Region and/or Dutch Quarter for us to do something about this? We did not even touch on the negative influence of illegal residency on youth unemployment. There are many other reasons why the amount of illegal residents should be reduced drastically. With all the current and past budget woes it might be time to allocate more funds and or efforts to not only protect our borders, but to also evacuate those who are residing on Sint Maarten illegally. All the policies are in place, but the (financial) tools are lacking. Hopefully this does not end up encouraging (political) favoritism by singling out individuals or businesses to go after them or the opposite. One way to increase funds to evacuate illegal residents is fining employers that employ illegal residents heavy. Not just Ang 5,000.00, but rather Ang 50,000.00 or more per employee. Same for those who “sign for” or “invite” people that overstay their visa. It can work as a deterrent as well. It’s time for both the executive and legislative branches of our government to wake up, before Sint Maarten burns down to the ground. #sxmmovement. Soualiga Social Movement
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 20:36:40 +0000
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