The Caribbean Netherlands experienced notable departure rates among new arrivals, with Saba, St. Eu­statius and Bonaire all showing high turnover within seven years. This trend was most pronounced among newcomers from the Eu­ropean Netherlands.

Between 2011 and 2016, ap­proximately 8,700 people from outside the Caribbean region of the Kingdom of the Netherlands moved to the Caribbean Neth­erlands. Most of these new ar­rivals settled on Bonaire (5,700). followed by Saba (2,000) and St. Eustatius (1,000). However, the majority of these immigrants left within seven years, with those ar­riving in 2016 departing by 2023. On Bonaire, most residents born outside the Caribbean were origi­nally from the European Neth­erlands (2,700) or Central and South America (1,700). On St. Eustatius, immigrants were pri­marily from Central and South America (398) and the European Netherlands (249). In contrast, the majority of Saba’s newcomers were from North America (942). On Bonaire, over half of the im­migrants who arrived between 2011 and 2016 had left by the end of that period. This trend was most pronounced among newcomers from the European Netherlands, with 61% depart­ing, compared to 29% of those from Central and South America. St. Eustatius saw an even higher overall departure rate of 65%, with immigrants from the Euro­pean Netherlands and Central and South America leaving at rates of 59% and 50%, respec­tively.

Saba experienced the highest turnover, with 85% of new arrivals departing within seven years, includ­ing a striking 90% of immi­grants from North Amer­ica. These figures under­score the transient nature of the immigrant popula­tion across the islands.

On Bonaire and St. Eu­statius, about a quarter of immigrants who left within seven years departed after just one year. Of the 2,946 immigrants who moved to Bonaire and later left, 720 left within the first year. Similarly, 167 out of 687 immigrants to St. Eustatius departed after one year.

Saba saw the shortest av­erage stay for new arrivals. Of the 1,719 immigrants who moved to the island between 2011 and 2016, more than half (969) left within a year.

The high turnover rates among immigrants high­light challenges in retaining residents in the Caribbean Netherlands. Factors such as limited job opportuni­ties, cultural differences or geographic isolation may contribute to these depar­tures.

The Daily Herald.