Arrindell, ONE SXM steps into a sensitive geopolitical issue with Western Azerbaijan support

GREAT BAY--Dr. Rhoda Arrindell and the One St. Martin Association, ONE SXM, have publicly backed the right of so-called Western Azerbaijanis to return to lands in present-day Armenia, placing the St. Martin advocacy organization inside one of the most politically sensitive disputes surrounding the continuing Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process.

Arrindell, president of ONE SXM and a former St. Maarten Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, made the statement in a video published by the Baku Initiative Group, BIG, and subsequently carried by Azerbaijani news agency Trend and international news outlet Streamline on September 16.

In the video, Arrindell said the organization supports the principle that displaced people should be able to return to their homelands voluntarily and under favorable conditions. She specifically extended that principle to Western Azerbaijanis and said, “We as a group, One St. Martin Association, we pledge our support.”

Arrindell also said ONE SXM was prepared to work with displaced communities around the world and thanked the Baku Initiative Conference for giving the organization an opportunity both to discuss concerns affecting St. Martin and to express solidarity with displaced populations internationally.

The phrase “Western Azerbaijan” is at the heart of the controversy. Azerbaijan uses the term in connection with Azerbaijanis who formerly lived in territory that is now the Republic of Armenia and argues that they should have the right to return safely and with dignity. Azerbaijan insists that the campaign concerns human rights and does not represent a territorial claim against Armenia.

Armenia takes a sharply different position. Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described the “Western Azerbaijan” narrative as a territorial claim against Armenia disguised as a human-rights campaign, and rejects the suggestion that Armenian territory can properly be described as Western Azerbaijan.

This distinction makes Arrindell’s endorsement considerably more sensitive than a general statement supporting refugees or displaced persons. By specifically recognizing the Western Azerbaijani return campaign, ONE SXM is using terminology that is actively promoted by Azerbaijan and directly disputed by Armenia.

The issue also exists against the background of decades of displacement on both sides of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Following Azerbaijan’s September 2023 military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled the territory to Armenia. Human Rights Watch reported in its 2026 review that Azerbaijan had not taken meaningful steps to facilitate their safe and dignified return or restore their property rights.

The International Court of Justice also issued binding provisional measures in November 2023 requiring Azerbaijan to ensure that Armenians who left Nagorno-Karabakh after September 19, 2023 and wished to return could do so safely, without obstruction and promptly.

That does not negate claims by displaced Azerbaijanis. It does, however, mean that supporting one right-of-return campaign without acknowledging the unresolved return rights of Armenians can expose an organization advocating universal principles to criticism that it has entered the dispute from one side.

Arrindell’s latest statement is not an isolated contact between ONE SXM and Azerbaijan-based organizations. The association has developed a sustained relationship with the Baku Initiative Group over the past several years, primarily through international campaigns concerning colonialism, decolonization and self-determination.

In July 2024, Arrindell represented ONE SXM at a Baku conference described as the “Congress of French Colonies,” where she pledged the association’s support for an international front advocating liberation and independence.

The relationship became more formal in December 2024 when Arrindell and Baku Initiative Group Executive Director Abbas Abbasov signed a memorandum of understanding between BIG and the One St. Martin Association. Azerbaijani reports described the agreement as part of cooperation surrounding decolonization and St. Martin.

ONE SXM’s own website currently identifies the Baku Initiative Group as one of its international partners, alongside the Caribbean Reparations Commission and the International Front for Decolonization. The association describes its mission as promoting St. Martin unity, self-determination, cultural identity and social and economic advancement across both sides of the island.

Arrindell has also represented ONE SXM at BIG-related international events, including meetings in New York and Washington addressing decolonization, political status and self-determination. In June 2026 she was among signatories to an address presented to members of the United States Congress raising issues affecting St. Maarten and other Dutch Caribbean islands.

Baku Initiative Group itself is disputed

That continuing relationship carries its own political sensitivities. BIG describes itself as an international non-governmental organization supporting peoples affected by colonialism and neocolonialism and advocating independence, self-determination and minority rights.

French authorities, however, have publicly accused the organization of being tied to the Azerbaijani authorities and of attempting to influence political debate in French overseas territories, particularly New Caledonia. In January 2025, France’s foreign minister told the French Senate that BIG was linked to Azerbaijani authorities and accused it of physical and digital interference targeting French territories.

A French National Assembly response later described overseas territories as targets of foreign information operations and said BIG appeared to operate as part of a geopolitical influence strategy unfavorable to French interests. A parliamentary report separately accused Azerbaijan of interference in New Caledonia through BIG.

BIG firmly rejects those accusations. It maintains that colonialism and self-determination are international human-rights matters rather than internal French affairs, and has defended its work with independence movements in New Caledonia, Guadeloupe, Martinique and other territories.

ONE SXM has itself sided with BIG in that dispute. In July 2026 the organization rejected accusations from French lawmakers that Azerbaijan and BIG were improperly interfering in overseas territories, arguing that colonialism, decolonization and self-determination are matters of international law.

Potential implications for Arrindell and ONE SXM

For Arrindell, the latest statement could generate scrutiny because it moves her relationship with Baku beyond St. Martin’s own decolonization and independence campaign and into the competing historical and territorial narratives of the South Caucasus.

Her longstanding position on self-determination makes the principle behind the statement consistent with ONE SXM’s broader advocacy. The political difficulty is that “Western Azerbaijan” is not neutral terminology between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Supporting it can therefore be interpreted differently from supporting a general right of displaced people to return home.

For ONE SXM, questions could also arise about how far its memorandum and partnership with BIG extend, how positions on international disputes are determined, and whether members formally approve statements made in the association’s name on matters beyond St. Martin and Caribbean decolonization.

Arrindell was not speaking for the Government of St. Maarten, Parliament or the Kingdom of the Netherlands. ONE SXM is a civil society organization and its statement does not establish an official St. Maarten foreign-policy position.

That is especially important because foreign relations are formally a Kingdom responsibility under the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Kingdom, rather than St. Maarten acting independently, carries responsibility for foreign policy.

Why St. Maarten could still be drawn into the discussion

Despite that legal distinction, an international audience unfamiliar with St. Maarten’s constitutional arrangements may not immediately distinguish between a group called the One St. Martin Association and the official position of the country.

That possibility is heightened by Arrindell’s previous service as a government minister and by ONE SXM’s increasing appearance at international conferences where St. Martin’s constitutional status, independence and relations with France and the Netherlands are discussed.

There is also a particular French dimension. ONE SXM presents itself as representing the interests of people on both the French and Dutch sides of St. Martin, while France has become one of BIG’s most vocal critics. ONE SXM’s closer alignment with BIG therefore intersects directly with an already tense dispute between Paris and Baku over alleged foreign interference in French overseas territories.

The latest declaration does not mean St. Maarten has taken a side in the Armenia-Azerbaijan dispute. It does, however, place one of the island’s most visible self-determination organizations, led by a former government minister, publicly alongside a campaign that remains heavily contested even as Armenia and Azerbaijan attempt to consolidate their peace process.

𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 16 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘉𝘢𝘬𝘶 𝘐𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘕𝘌 𝘚𝘟𝘔’𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘈𝘻𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘪𝘫𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢, 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘖𝘕𝘌 𝘚𝘟𝘔 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘐𝘎 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵.

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