Baku to host international conference on Bonaire Island

On August 22, an international conference will be held in Baku, jointly organized by the Baku Initiative Group (BIG) and the "Human Rights and Changes for Bonaire" movement.

The conference will focus on the situation on the island of Bonaire, which is a colony of the Netherlands, Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

The conference titled "The Path to Bonaire's Self-Determination at the UN General Assembly through Baku" will bring together officials and representatives from regional organizations, human rights activists, NGO leaders, experts, and researchers specializing in decolonization, among others.

The conference will discuss the struggle of the people of Bonaire for liberation from colonization, the inclusion of this issue on the agenda of relevant international organizations, and the international legal avenues for resolving this problem.

Before European colonization, Bonaire was inhabited by the indigenous Arawak people, specifically the Caquetio tribe.

The Spanish arrived on Bonaire in 1499, with the island being claimed by Spanish explorers Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci. The Spanish found little economic value in the island, largely because it lacked gold and other resources deemed valuable at the time. As a result, the indigenous population was enslaved and transported to Hispaniola to work in the mines there.

Bonaire came under Dutch control in 1636 during the Eighty Years' War when the Dutch West India Company seized the island from the Spanish. The Dutch used Bonaire as a salt production site and for livestock farming, which became economically significant for the Dutch colonial empire.

Enslaved Africans were brought to Bonaire to work in the salt pans and in other agricultural endeavours. Slavery continued on the island until the abolition of slavery in the Dutch colonies in 1863.

Bonaire remained a Dutch colony through various geopolitical shifts. After the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, Bonaire became a special municipality of the Netherlands. This status means that it is directly governed by the Dutch government, though it retains some local autonomy.

Today, Bonaire's status as part of the Netherlands has led to discussions about self-determination and decolonization. Some residents and political movements argue for greater autonomy or even independence, while others are content with the current relationship with the Netherlands, which provides economic and infrastructural benefits.