Jetten treated to hospital after being stung on Caribbean visit

Prime minister Rob Jetten spent several hours in hospital during an official visit to the Caribbean after being stung while swimming in the sea.

Jetten was kept in for observation after having an allergic reaction to the sting in Bonaire, but suffered no serious effects and was discharged later in the day.

He later shared an image on X thanking the staff at the Fundashon Mariadal hospital where he was treated on Tuesday afternoon.

“Thanks to the excellent care at Fundashon Mariadal I feel much better and can resume my official visit to Bonaire with a revised schedule,” he wrote. It is not known what caused the sting.

Veel dank aan het geweldige personeel van Fundashon Mariadal voor de goede zorg!

Een speciaal bezoek op de Dag van de Verpleging vandaag. Na een heftige allergische reactie moest ik even een paar uur worden opgenomen in het ziekenhuis. Dankzij de uitstekende zorg van Fundashon… pic.twitter.com/A109iDPt26

— Rob Jetten (@MinPres) May 12, 2026

Jetten is on a four-day tour of the six Caribbean territories in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which also include Curaçao, St Eustatius, Saba, Sint-Maarten and Aruba. It is his first visit to the islands since becoming prime minister in February.

The three-party coalition of D66, CDA and VVD pledged when it took office to ensure Caribbean residents enjoyed the same living standards as people living in the rest of the Netherlands.

Climate change

Last month a report by the national anti-racism co-ordinator found that citizens in the region had less social security than those living in Europe.

One in three people in the Caribbean Netherlands lives in poverty, there is no unemployment benefit system or allowance for children in low-income houses, and many secondary schools are rated as sub-standard.

Jetten, who previously visited the islands as climate minister, is also focusing on the effects of climate change in the Caribbean region.

Earlier this year the government lost a court case in brought by Greenpeace, in which judges ruled The Hague had not done enough to protect the inhabitants of Bonaire from global warming.

The court ordered the cabinet to come up with a plan by 2030 to address rising sea levels, the decline of coral reefs and other impact of climate chance.

Greenpeace had been due to protest outside a visit to Bonaire’s agriculture ministry on Tuesday, but the appointment was cancelled in the wake of Jetten’s trip to hospital.