ONE SXM at Baku Initiative Group international conference in New York

NEW YORK--St. Maarten will join other colonial territories at the United Nations headquarters on 25 September 2025, where the Baku Initiative Group is set to host an international conference titled “Overseas Territories after the Bujival Agreement: Recolonisation or Decolonisation?” within the framework of the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly. Dr. Rhoda Arrindell of the ONE SXM Association will represent St. Martin and make a presentation at the event.

According to Azernews, the conference will bring together leaders of independence movements from the Netherlands’ territories, including Bonaire, Aruba, and St. Maarten, as well as France’s overseas territories such as Kanaky (New Caledonia), Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Maʻohi Nui (French Polynesia), and French Guiana. International experts on decolonisation and representatives of the International Decolonisation Front, established earlier in Baku, will also participate.

The discussions will scrutinise the true nature of the Bujival Agreement, which France has promoted as a framework for “stability and a shared future.” Participants will weigh its provisions against those of the Matignon and Nouméa Accords, which were supposed to guide New Caledonia toward independence. Representatives of the Kanak people are expected to outline in detail why they reject the agreement.

Debates will also focus on the broader future of overseas territories in the post-Bujival era, particularly France’s unfulfilled decolonisation obligations before the UN. Delegates will underline the need to keep these issues alive at international forums and explore coordinated strategies for advancing genuine self-determination.

A joint declaration is expected at the close of the event, followed by a peaceful protest staged by representatives of the colonies outside the UN headquarters.

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