PHILIPSBURG, St. Martin — The ONESXM Association is expressing serious concern following a vote at the United Nations Economic and Social Council in which both the Republic of France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands abstained on a resolution related to the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
The resolution was adopted with 31 votes in favour, one vote against, and 17 abstentions.
For St. Martin, the vote carries particular significance.
Our island remains administered by two colonial powers. Yet when both governments were called upon to take a position on an international resolution concerning decolonization, the people of St. Martin were not consulted.
Two governments voted.
One people were unheard.
The ONESXM Association is not only concerned about the abstentions themselves. Our deeper concern is the continuing pattern in which decisions connected to the constitutional future of St. Martin are made without the direct participation of its people.
The people of St. Martin continue to be spoken for, rather than spoken with.
This vote comes shortly after the Republic of France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands advanced the ratification of an agreement defining the border between the two sides of St. Martin. That process also moved forward without a referendum or meaningful island-wide consultation with the people whose homeland is being divided and administered.
After nearly four centuries, colonial governments continue to formalize decisions about St. Martin while the people of St. Martin remain outside the room.
This is especially troubling at a time when questions of sovereignty, self-determination, constitutional reform and decolonization are being debated across the Caribbean and throughout the world.
St. Martin cannot continue to be treated as two separate administrative possessions whenever governments find it convenient, while its people are denied a unified voice on matters affecting the future of the entire island.
Our reality is clear: one island, one people, two administering powers, and no direct democratic mandate from the people on the fundamental question of our constitutional future.
The ONESXM Association believes that the people must be heard before governments speak on their behalf.
For years, the Association has called on our leaders to organize a referendum asking one clear question:
Should St. Martin become an independent country—yes or no?
The ONESXM Association does not seek to dictate the answer. We insist that the decision belongs to the people of St. Martin and must be determined through a free, fair and democratic vote.
Until St. Martin speaks with its own democratic voice, others will continue to speak for us.
Two governments abstained. One people were unheard.
It is time for the people of St. Martin to be asked.
