Tough choices needed to tackle the consequences of migration and ageing on BES

The growing impact of migration and population ageing on the islands of Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba poses significant challenges for the local economy and overall prosperity. To address these developments, both the central government and the local authorities will need to make tough choices in the coming years. Key priorities include tackling overdue infrastructure maintenance, ensuring a stable energy and fuel supply, and preventing staff shortages in crucial sectors such as healthcare and education. While migration offers opportunities, it also brings challenges. An integrated approach to care, education and housing is therefore essential.

The government outlines these concerns in a letter to the House of Representatives, written in response to the report Targeted Growth by the State Commission on Demographic Developments in the Caribbean Netherlands 2050. The report describes expected population trends through 2050 and provides recommendations for future-proof policymaking. Both the central government and the Executive Councils of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba endorse the commission’s conclusions.

Structural resources needed for investment

Demographic developments must play a central role in the creation of new policy. The government’s response outlines actions required in both the short and long term. It also endorses earlier recommendations by the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure (Rli), the Council for Public Administration (ROB), and the research agency AEF, which stress the need for long-term cooperation and structural financing for investments in housing, improved roads, and better accessibility.

Bonaire’s population, for example, has nearly doubled over the past 15 years—from just over 15,000 in 2011 to nearly 27,000 in 2025. This rapid growth places increasing pressure on physical infrastructure such as roads, waste management and housing, while also driving up energy demand.

Maintaining public facilities

In the medium and long term, policy must also address the consequences of an ageing population. This includes investing in prevention and in physical infrastructure such as public transport and elderly housing. To manage migration effectively, clear laws and regulations for migration procedures are essential. Migration policy should support and stimulate economic development.

Because of the islands’ limited scale, maintaining public facilities is particularly challenging. Strengthening regional cooperation and ensuring alignment between educational programmes and labour-market needs are therefore crucial.

Data needed to adjust policy

To increase the self-reliance of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba, the government is already working to strengthen broad prosperity and improve basic services. This includes administrative agreements on good governance, healthy public finances, and digitalisation. Regional Deals have laid the groundwork for economic development, and funds have been made available for initiatives that support food security.

As more data becomes available, policy has been adjusted accordingly. This has already increased the free allowance from the BES Fund. The next cabinet will be advised to continue monitoring demographic developments structurally and to embed them systematically in policymaking.

Central Government