News item | 29-09-2025 | 17:08
All countries in the Kingdom endorse the importance of cooperation to strengthen the rule of law and good governance. That is why Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands and Sint Maarten work together to combat undermining crime, corruption and fraud and to promote integrity. This is what the Minister of Justice and Security (J&V) Foort van Oosten and BZK State Secretary Eddie van Marum today write to the House of Representatives. The reason is a motion from the Chamber that calls for a stronger approach to, among other things, the fight against fraud, undermining crime and combating corruption.
Approach Undermining
Undermining is a form of organized crime in which the legal and illegal atmosphere, the upper world and underworld, mix. The location near Latin and North America and the trade routes to Europe make the Caribbean part of the Kingdom extra vulnerable to undermining crime, such as the smuggling of drugs and weapons and human trafficking and human smuggling. The small scale of the islands also entails a greater risk of unintended conflicts of interest.
Crime cross -border and undermining, combating corruption and fraud and promoting integrity are autonomous affairs of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The countries have an increased vulnerability due to a limited capacity in personnel and resources. That is why the Netherlands works with Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten to make extra capacity, expertise and resources available for combating undermining crime.
BZK State Secretary Eddie van Marum emphasizes the importance of the approach for residents:
“The governments within the Kingdom share a joint responsibility to prevent these forms of undermining. After all, undermining damages the functioning of public administration and the trust of citizens in a fair, honest government. Citizens throughout the Kingdom must be able to count on a solid, resilient constitutional state.”
The cooperation between the Netherlands and the three Caribbean countries in the field of undermining takes place in both criminal and administrative areas. In addition, there is cooperation in the field of good governance and integrity.
Criminal and administrative approach undermining
Since 2017, the Netherlands has been supporting three chain partners in countries with the criminal approach to undermining: through the investigation of the investigation team, the public ministries in the countries and the Common Court of Justice. In the coming years, the focus will be on more capacity and expertise for conducting criminal investigations into financial-economic crime. There is also a need for a better view of criminal money flows. For an efficient approach, this is used on the basis of targeted information, people and resources. For the criminal approach, 24 million euros is reserved annually.
A protocol has also been established for the administrative approach to undermining. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations releases 1 million euros annually for this. The three Caribbean countries have the campaign Not on Our Island launched aimed at more awareness about undermining in society. The countries also want to have established a platform at the end of 2026, following the example of the Regional Information and Expertise Centers (RIEC) in the Netherlands.
Good governance and integrity
In recent years, the Caribbean countries have taken various steps in the field of good governance and integrity. Sint Maarten, for example, has had an integrity room since 2019 and there has been the Integrity Aruba office in Aruba since 2021. Curaçao is also setting up an integrity agency. Furthermore, the Caribbean countries have introduced rules for financing political parties and screening new ministers and civil servants receive integrity training. From 2023, the Integrity Summit Dutch Caribbean is held annually to promote expertise of integrity officers. The aim is to realize a Caribbean knowledge center integrity promotion in 2026, which can support both countries and the public bodies. Finally, in consultation with the countries, it is investigating how the progress of processes in the field of good governance and integrity can best be monitored. For example through the National Integrity System assessments that have already been carried out in the countries. Transparency International refers to possible instruments of monitoring, given their knowledge and experience to following trends and corruption around the world.