About the Dutch Caribbean

The Dutch Caribbean region consists of the islands Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius. The islands were colonized for centuries by various European countries, as of 1815 by the Dutch. In the 18th century, Curaçao and St. Eustatius were major Caribbean hubs for the transatlantic slave trade. 

The six islands became the country Netherlands Antilles in 1954. Aruba seceded the Netherlands Antilles in 1986 to become a separate country. Until 2010, the constituent countries Netherlands Antilles, Aruba and the Netherlands formed the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Source: http://biodivexplorer.dcbd.nl/explorer/info/islands

More information: https://www.britannica.com/place/Netherlands-Antilles
 

Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles

On October 10, 2010, the Netherlands Antilles were dissolved. Curaçao and St.Maarten became constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, like Aruba. The smaller islands Bonaire, Saba, and St. Eustatius came under the direct administration of the Netherlands as public entities. Informally, the three islands are often referred to as BES islands, Bonaire, Eustatius, Saba. The administrative law position of the BES islands as public entities is comparable to that of municipalities in the European part of the Netherlands, but definitely not the same. Many Dutch laws have been given a BES variant. In some cases the old Dutch Antillean laws still apply. 

Referenda on St. Eustatius

Referendum 2005
An often ignored fact is that the majority of the people of St Eustatius did not want to leave the Netherlands Antilles, unlike the other islands. In a referendum on April 8, 2005, 76,6% of the voters voted to remain within the Netherlands Antilles, compared to 20,56% who voted for closer ties with the Netherlands (source, footnote 5, text in Dutch). As the Netherlands Antilles were to be dissolved, this was no longer an option.

Referendum 2014
On December 17, 2014, another referendum was held on St. Eustatius. A majority of 65% of the voters opted for the option of St. Eustatius as an autonomous territory within the Kingdom. 32% of the voters opted for remaining a public entity, 1% for the option of St. Eustatius as an integrated part of the Netherlands and 0% for the option of St. Eustatius as an independent country (source: Letter of Minister of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations January 7, 2015 https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/kst-31568-148.html)

However, with a turnout of 45.2% of those entitled to vote, the turnout threshold, set at 60% by the Island Council, has not been achieved, and the referendum was therefore invalid.

Evaluation of the new constitutional structure of the Caribbean Netherlands

In 2015, an evaluation committee published the report "Five Years Connected: Bonaire, St. Eustatius, Saba and European Netherlands" (in Dutch: 'Vijf jaar verbonden: Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba en Europees Nederland'). The committee has looked at the effect of the new legislation, the functioning of the new administrative structure and the consequences for the population. SEAD coordinator Kenneth Cuvalay was part of one of the supervisory committees.