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30 men and officers closed a brigade for 4 days in Saint- Martin, a Franco-Dutch island with 80.000 inhabitants in the Antilles to demonstrate their anger about unsatisfactory working conditions. The gendarmes on the island feel stressed and overloaded with work, there is a real discomforting working climate. This is an unusual act for military personnel.
30 men and officers closed a brigade for 4 days in Saint- Martin, a Franco-Dutch island with 80.000 inhabitants in the Antilles to demonstrate their anger about unsatisfactory working conditions. The gendarmes on the island feel stressed and overloaded with work, there is a real discomforting working climate. This is an unusual act for military personnel.
The trigger for such strong reactions is a tragic accident that occurred on 12 February 2006. Raphaël Clin, a 31 year old gendarme was deadly hit by a motorcyclist as he was trying to stop him because he was participating in a so-called run, an illicit motorcycle racing with 100 participants. Only two men were present to prevent this race.
The Ministry of Defence had not reacted before to demands for additional staff on the island in order to properly act with regard to the high level of delinquency. The island has the lowest level of penal cases but a high level of criminality. This unequal situation is also due to a non-existant transnational cooperation between the French and Dutch authorities. Criminals can easily move between borders on the island and escape from penalisation.
The French Minister of Defence in a communiqué promised to reinforce the gendarme presence on the island. Michèle Alliot-Marie also said to identify solutions for the cooperation between Dutch and French authorities in justice and criminal matters to alleviate the work of the Gendarmerie and render it more efficient.