Deception on St. Eustatius

As published in the section "Opinion" of The Daily Herald, St. Maarten, Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Dear Editor,

On April, 21st 2021 a new excavation started on the terrain of the airport of Statia. In earlier excavations near the airport the archeologists of SECAR found many remains and artefacts. So it was no surprise when after a short time they found graves of enslaved African people. Others could have told them before, based on archival research, but SECAR played the farce of surprise.

Statia Government kept on promoting the dig with many press releases and extra money. The white hired so-called experts got paid above and/or replacing their normal salaries. The Statian people of African descent got very angry. A large scale signatures campaign was launched and many people give their support to it. Normally and understandable, because for the white archeologists the desecration was only usual when the graves were of non-white people. Not once have they looted graves of white people! State secretary Knops visiting the grave site of ancestors of the people he is said to hate, didn’t do any good either.

SECAR tried to lure the population in a town hall meeting (June 21st), but that became an enormous disaster. Now more and more people were speaking out against SECAR, the various named archeologists, the excavation, but also against the Dutch controlled government.

Protests were also heard on other islands against the colonial controlled excavations of the white Dutch, British, French and/or US scientists. To prevent further polarization or even the activation of something that might be as dormant as the Quill, an open rebellion, the advisers of the Statia Government, among others the wife of former government commissioner Van Rij and the Leiden University professors of archeology, advised to pause the diggings, and find a plan to deceive the population. Their goal was that SECAR c.s. could continue grabbing profits over the skeletons of African descent enslaved people.
At July, 14th, eventually the government had to stop the diggings, but it was exactly at the moment of the start of hurricane season, so not very principle.

The advisors and the ministry of Interior in Europe had ordered that a commission should be installed. Typically a Dutch civil servants solution to stretch time and to downplay the anger. By the end of July the so-called St. Eustatius Heritage Research Commission (SHRC) was installed by the government to find a plan to get opinions of the population streamlined to fit within the government’s plans. Not that the government would follow any of these population’s opinions, but merely to give it the image of cooperation and hand reaching. This commission was composed of all foreign so-called experts, and only a few well chosen, Statian-born people were allowed to be the representing lightning rods. If something went wrong the president of the commission, Mr. Haviser, would use them as scapegoats. Yes, the same one who dares to call the kettle black in regard to racism!

It was, so was written in the government press release, the intention that no excavation should be executed before a report of this commission was discussed with the population.
But several things interfered with that apparent hollow promise of Ms. Alida Francis, government commissioner of state secretary Mr. Knops: 

• A point has been reached where all leading positions in the St. Eustatius civil servants organization are full of expats, and Ms. Claudia Toet, also parachuted by Mr. Knops, and her gang of helpers are therefore in full control of all developments on the island.
• Very fast, many development plans have been started to prevent that any political power change in European Netherlands could undo what’s already started. The money flow to St. Eustatius has about doubled that of the former normal budget to arrange this!
• And apparently the different archeologists were in dire straits and needed money, so Mr. Haviser, chairman of the People’s Deceiving Commission anticipated any report or advises by giving his permission to his friends to continue digging on a nearby location. He, who did excavations himself on St. Eustatius, and then, so-called independently telling his also Leiden-University friends that they may continue. As is known broadly, all archeology profit centers on the 6 “Dutch” Caribbean islands are founded by the University of Leiden, who still is in control.
  

Already earlier, in August 2021, another, this time underwater archeology survey was done. And here, again, another government funded entity was used to give permission: STENAPA.

Now it’s almost full circle: 

• Den Haag / Statia Government plans to execute the Statia Spatial Development Plan; 
• STENAPA or the SHRC who are used to give permission or a declaration of no objection; 
• SECAR destroying graves and digging up remains; 
• Leiden and other universities as modern body snatchers, breaking down bones; 
• And various foreign companies profiting from execution of these development plans.
  

But it does not stop here. Someone, some organization or business is helping hiding the looted excavated human remains from their African descendants. Digital forensic investigation will reveal who is guilty of this.

On November 28th 2021, SECAR started another dig near the airport. Again human remains can be found. And as so many thousands of enslaved people of African descent have died on the plantations around the terrain of the airport, it wouldn’t be surprising if the grave robbers did it again. And we all know for sure that the looters will keep it secret this time!
This is unacceptable! Stop the dig!

Heritage on St. Eustatius is not owned by any foreign expert or scientific mercenary. All heritage on the island belongs to the population. Any desecration of graves of non-white people must be seen as an act of race discrimination!

Jack Theuns

Ally of the St. Eustatius African Burial Ground Alliance