By Alita Singh in St Maarten - Guyana Chronicle
ST MAARTEN — After years of travelling to the Dutch dependency of St Maarten without needing a visa, Guyanese now need one under a new treaty ratified last week between The Netherlands and France.

The treaty aims to effectively control the influx of foreigners, a move that has become more important in light of combating international terrorism and stemming the flow of illegal migration, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Ben Bot said.

A total of 1,709 Guyanese are registered as legally residing on St Maarten by the Census Office. This group represents the fifth highest legally residing immigrant population on the island.

An estimated 30,000 people are living on the Dutch side and a similarly high number on the French side. A significant percentage of this illegal group is supposedly Guyanese.

With the ink drying on the treaty, the process of issuing visas, criteria and where these will be issued are being ironed out and the visa requirement is expected to be enforced later this year or early 2007.

The First Chamber of the Dutch Parliament ratified the Franco-Dutch Treaty on Wednesday, October 18, making it Kingdom Law following its passage and approval in the Second Chamber in September.

St Maarten/St Martin is a 37 square mile island in the Caribbean Sea with the distinction of being the small piece of land divided between two foreign powers: The Netherlands and France, and to peacefully co-exist for more than 350 years.

The French side (called St Martin), occupying 21 square miles, is a part of the French Overseas Department of Guadeloupe while the 16 square mile Dutch side (St Maarten) is part of the Netherlands Antilles, a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The treaty regulating immigration has been on the table for the past twelve years with the French government seal of approval. The delay by the Dutch was due to objections filed by St Maarten’s local government citing negative effects on its tourism industry if the visa requirement was imposed.

Guyanese have always needed a visa to enter French territories but the unique set up of the island with an open border had allowed them to circumvent this necessity with easy.

Princess Juliana International Airport on the Dutch side serves the entire island thus Guyanese and other nationalities not needing visas to enter Dutch territories but needing one for French territories were allowed in by the Dutch immigration authorities. Now, under the treaty, the French immigration and other authorities are expected to have a presence at the airport to help with enforcing the treaty.

Illegal immigration has plagued the island for years due to high demand for cheap foreign labour to run its booming construction industry and its robust main economic generator: tourism.

However, unskilled labour has been saturating the work force creating numerous social issues such as inadequate classrooms, substandard housing and a burden on the already taxed health care system.

The immigration authorities on both sides of the island have been stepping up their control campaigns to net as many illegals as possible and deport them to their country of origin.

Visas are now also needed by nationals of Jamaica, Suriname and the Dominican Republic under the treaty.