On Saturday, April 27, on King’s Day, a group of concerned citizens protested during the government protocol. The message the group wanted to convey includes, among other things: giving priority to nature, stopping hotel construction, taking the environmental crisis seriously, reflecting on the colonial effects of the Netherlands, and taking climate action.
The last time there was such a protest was on March 18, when people interrupted Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes’s speech and protested about the environmental crisis we are facing. This time, the group held a peaceful protest with signs related to our nature, our environmental crisis, our status in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and also the situation of the hotels.
After a while, the police started to threaten the protesting group and even began to push and drag people on public grounds. The protesters noticed that the police tried to intimidate and establish authority, while they expressed their constitutional right and their right to voice themselves as human beings.
The group noticed that government officials, parliament, and even the governor ignored the people’s outcry and the messages of the protesters. People are becoming more concerned about Aruba, and even other islands in the Kingdom of the Netherlands are starting to notice that Aruba has begun to stand up against the injustice and inaction of the Aruban government.
With all the situations happening around Aruba, the protesters formed a group to raise awareness among the people about what’s happening with Aruba. Among other things; Our tourism model is not sustainable, there are too many hotels in Aruba, sewage water is draining into Eagle Beach and Palm Beach every day causing pollution, the UTVs are harmful to our nature, it’s getting hotter in Aruba every year. Sea levels are rising in Divi, Druif, and Tamarijn.
There is too much deforestation, our marine life like corals and mangroves are dying around Aruba, our indigenous cultural heritage is disappearing. It’s becoming more expensive for locals, the housing market and land are being sold to wealthy foreigners and not to Arubans, and climate change is affecting us because we are a vulnerable island.
It’s also worth mentioning that King’s Day was a moment to reflect on the impact of colonization on Aruba. An example of this is that the ABC-SSS islands are not allowed to independently represent themselves at international climate change conferences. This is because the Netherlands is only allowed to represent us at climate change conventions. But every time the Netherlands goes to these conventions, they almost never mention the islands in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, even though our islands are the most vulnerable to climate change.
The Netherlands also doesn’t mention our climate change adaptation plans. ABC-SSS islands have no support, no representation, and cannot participate in these conventions, which is discrimination and also reflects the situation of injustice in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
In the end, the group is growing larger, and many more young people from Generation Z are joining this organic movement. Concerned youth see that the leaders we have now are not concerned about the younger generation in the climate change situation, while it’s their generation that will feel the biggest effects of the environmental crisis.
The group urges people to start standing up against injustice and inaction, and to become bigger to put pressure on the government to start prioritizing our nature and taking the environmental crisis seriously.
