Dutch parliament worried about gambling in the Caribbean

The government wants to reduce the expansion of illegal offshore gambling services from Aruba, Curaçao and St.Maarten.

Netherlands.- Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs, Raymond Knops, has revealed that the government has serious concerns about the offshore gambling industry in Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten, all territories from the Dutch Caribbean.

Knops discussed the subject in a reply to a series of questions that Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) submitted in January. The latter wanted to clarify Netherlands’ responsibility for the offshore gambling industry in Aruba, Curaçao and St Marteen. The member placed specific questions regarding the policies that were in place, as well as the permits system, supervision and legislation regarding offshore gambling.

“Curaçao, Aruba and St Maarten have their own gambling laws and regulations. Because there is no question of Kingdom affairs, the Kingdom has no powers in the licensing and extension of offshore hazard games, the supervision thereof and the enforcement of the country regulation offshore hazard games of Curaçao, Aruba and St Maarten,” said the minister.

Van Raak was also interested in the development of the islands as tax havens were promoted because the Netherlands could arrange tax treaties. Knops answered that Curaçao, Aruba and St Maarten are authorised to negotiate tax treaties independently: “The treaties are concluded by the Kingdom for those countries. After parliamentary approval, treaties are subsequently ratified by the Kingdom,” he added.

Moreover, Knops was also asked about the rules for offshore games of chance, and whether they were set up with the help of the Netherlands. “The preparation and adoption of a national ordinance is done by the government and the parliaments of Curaçao, Aruba or Sint Maarten. The National Ordinance offshore hazard games from 1993 is originally a national ordinance of the Netherlands Antilles. It is not known to me whether these rules for offshore hazard games have been set up with the help of the Netherlands, on the initiative of the former association for offshore interests.”

The secretary also said that gambling-related questions about the Caribbean have been passed on twice to the government of Curaçao, but hasn’t received any response and he doesn’t know when he can get them. He reassured that he would ask once again to the government and also the reasons why they’re not responding. “In addition, I will pay attention to this in my regular contacts with the government of Curaçao. Perhaps it should be considered to also request attention from the Parliament of Curaçao via the contacts within the framework of the Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultation,” said Knops.