The Netherlands is widely offering ID login means for its European area citizens to access smarter government services.
Now, following a public consultation in July 2023, a bill to provide Dutch nationals in the Netherland’s Caribbean region with citizen service numbers (BSN) is planned to go before the House of Representatives by mid-2024. Their own Citizen Service Numbers (BSN) will enable these citizens to use other login methods to government’s services, such as DigiD and eHerkenning.
The bill was proposed by State Secretary, Van Huffelen of Kingdom Relations and Digitalization.
The law will extend efficient digital onboarding to citizens in the Netherlands’ Caribbean region, both in the sense of more people having a national digital ID and having digital access to use public services.
State Secretary Van Huffelen highly commended the government’s achievement, saying:
“Having a unique and personal number, such as the citizen service number, will make life on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba easier”.
The national ID card system has been rolled out across the world from low-to-high income countries. The success of such schemes would have to be considered on a number of factors and variables varying from country to country however globally, many countries have adopted national identification systems for their citizens.
At present, 29,000 inhabitants of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba have a personalised number however not one linked to DigiD – a digital identity management platform issued by the Dutch government.
In the European part of the Netherlands, citizens aged 14 years and above have a Dutch identity card – holding their Dutch Citizen Service Number (BSN) – the official, non-mandatory ID document.
