Guardianship arrangement for Caribbean minors in the Netherlands to end November

GREAT BAY--Effective November 1, the Guardianship Arrangement for minors from Curaçao and St. Maarten who travel to the Netherlands will be discontinued. The decision was made jointly by the three countries following consultations between their respective Guardianship Councils and the Netherlands Child Protection Board (Raad voor de Kinderbescherming, RvdK).

The arrangement was originally introduced to provide protection for children from the former Netherlands Antilles upon their arrival in the Netherlands. Authorities now consider that protection unnecessary.

According to the governments involved, modern communication technology allows parents to supervise and guide their children remotely, eliminating the need for an on-site guardian. In addition, it was deemed no longer fair to maintain a separate guardianship system that applied only to children from these islands.

A statement from the government of Curaçao noted that the change aligns with updated youth protection policies that emphasize parental involvement and the use of technology to support families.

Parents from Curaçao and St. Maarten will now retain full legal and practical responsibility for their children while they are in the Netherlands. Their children will be treated the same as minors from other countries.

The existing guidelines and procedures associated with the Guardianship Arrangement will be phased out.

The Ministry of Justice in Curaçao will provide parents with information on the new procedures. This applies to minors traveling to the Netherlands for study, medical care, or other purposes. An informational campaign aimed at parents is expected to launch in October.

Background

Children from Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba (the BES islands), as well as from Curaçao, Aruba, and St. Maarten (the CAS countries), sometimes move to the Netherlands without their parents for education, work, or medical reasons. These minors typically live with relatives or family friends in what is known as a “network foster family.”

There remains one unified procedure for all minors from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom who wish to live in the Netherlands without an authoritative parent. In such cases, the Guardianship Council of the relevant island will ask the RvdK to assess the suitability of the intended temporary guardian.

After the child has resided in the Netherlands for three months, the RvdK conducts a follow-up investigation into the child’s situation. For minors aged 17 and a half or older, a certificate of non-objection is no longer required.

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