Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands is on a State visit at the colonies of Aruba and Bonaire. The Dutch press is highlighting the visit in their usual “bury their heads in the sand” style. A quick glance at local new sites in Papiamento (the language of these Caribbean islands), shows a very unwelcoming crowd standing on the sides of the road, as the cars transporting the Dutch Royal family drive by. These photos are taken at the protests in Bonaire.
On the first photo, the crowd holds a sign that reads, in Dutch, “Stop Apartheid and Colonialism”. While it is true that there is no real Apartheid regime in the islands, in the sense of its South African counterpart, the citizens of these lands cannot legally move to The Netherlands and their rights are those of de facto second class citizens. Their hospitals (deemed by Dutch health authorities), inferior to those of The Netherlands, their educational systems of lower standards.
On the second photo, a young child holds a sign that reads “A master in my own home”.
On the third photo, which is written in very colloquial Dutch so my translation is more intended at meaning than literally word by word, a placard reads “This is our land, we are not your people. Fuck off! the days of slavery are over”.
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