The Dutch central government has announced to the Council of Europe that Papiamentu on Bonaire is from now on recognised under Part III of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The addition of the language comes after years of efforts by organisations and representatives for Papiamentu.

The Charter

This recognition makes the Netherlands recognise Papiamentu as a second language under Part III, alongside Frisian. Lower Saxon, Limburgish, Yiddish and Romenese are only recognised in the Netherlands under Part II, where the objectives and principles of the Charter are endorsed. If a language is also recognised under Part III, at least 35 regulations are recognised in areas such as education, media, administrative and legal matters.

A country may recognise more languages, or subscribe to more regulations for recognised languages under the Charter. For example, the Netherlands recognised Frisian, Lower Saxon, Yiddish and Romenese in 1996 and Limburgish in 1997. The implementation of the Charter is monitored periodically with the help of the Committee of Experts (ComEx). The ComEx has brought the recognition of Papiamentu to the attention of the central government on several occasions.

Research

The Mercator European Research Centre has been in contact for years with organisations for Papiamentu such as SPLIKA and Fundashon Akademia Papiamentu. As such, Mercator has also conducted research into issues of concern to the Antillean language community. In response to advice from the Taalunie to teach 90% of teaching time in Dutch on the BES islands, Mercator, with knowledge in the field of multilingualism, education and minority languages, compiled the report Papiamentu in Perspectief: Een kritische analyse van het rapport Nederlands op z’n BESt’. That report argues for a trilingual language model in education on Bonaire, similar to the trilingual schools in Fryslân, with sufficient room for local language and culture.

Congratulations

The Mercator European Knowledge Centre would like to warmly congratulate SPLIKA and the Fundashon Akademia Papiamentu on this recognition under the Charter and will follow further developments in the field of Papiamentu with great interest.