The expulsion of 63 Mennonites has temporarily put an end to a controversial agricultural project in the interior. However, their departure does not mean that plans to bring hundreds of Mennonite families to Suriname are off the table. While the government and environmental organizations have reservations, entrepreneurs see opportunities for large-scale agriculture. The interest in Suriname fits in with a centuries-old migration history in which faith, population growth and the need for agricultural land are closely linked.
Text Ivan Cairo
Image FB Terra Invest Suriname & Guyana
While judge Robert Praag was considering the second summary proceedings against the deportation of 63 Mennonites on Monday, 57 of them had already left Suriname on two flights. The six people left behind, three women each with a baby born in Suriname, were expected to be deported on Tuesday. Their departure was delayed because the babies did not yet have travel documents. According to Chief Inspector Sharveen Koelfat, this has now been arranged.
“After protests from environmental organizations and indigenous representatives, the original project was stopped by the Santokhi government in 2024. But interest in Suriname did not disappear.”
Judge orders access to lawyer
Lawyer Derrick Veira protested against the government’s actions during the hearing. He stated that he was denied access to his clients in Kraka and that the deportation should have been suspended until President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons had decided on a review request. “This is not the way we should deal with the law,” the lawyer said.
State attorney Dwight Kraag argued that the Mennonites had entered in 2024 on 90-day holiday visas and had no valid residence documents. According to him, an earlier invitation letter for fifty families was also addressed to Terra Invest and not to Suriname Green Energy Agriculture, the company with which the group involved worked. Judge Prague ordered the police to give Veira access to his clients.
The events followed an earlier judicial defeat of Suriname Green Energy Agriculture. On October 29, subdistrict court judge Deborah Haakmat-Sniphout rejected the company’s claim to stop the eviction. The economic importance of the company did not outweigh the state’s authority to enforce immigration law, the judgment shows.
Searching for space for centuries
The families removed from the Mazonia area belong to a religious community whose history dates back more than four centuries. The Mennonites emerged in the sixteenth century from the Anabaptist movement in Europe. Their name refers to the Dutch religious reformer Menno Simons, who preached non-violence, adult baptism and a Christian life based on strict rules of faith.
Persecution and the need for religious freedom brought various groups to Prussia and later the Russian Empire. Mennonites settled in North America from the nineteenth century. Conservative groups then moved to Mexico and Paraguay, after which new colonies emerged in Bolivia, Belize and Peru, among others.
Not all Mennonites live by the same rules. Some communities are fully integrated into modern society. The conservative agricultural colonies that show an interest in Suriname generally adhere more strongly to their own rules of life. They have their own schools and churches, often speak Plautdietsch, a form of Low German, and maintain close ties with each other.
Agriculture occupies a central place in their existence. Families are often large and when children grow up, they need land to start their own business. After a few generations, the available agricultural land may be insufficient to provide a livelihood for all families. New colonies are then founded elsewhere.
The migration also has a cultural significance. By moving together into new areas, Conservative Mennonites can continue their own education, faith practices, and community life. The availability of affordable agricultural land largely determines where they settle.
This has led to an extensive international agricultural movement. Researchers led by Yann le Polain de Waroux mapped more than two hundred Mennonite colonies in nine Latin American countries. Research shows that their combined territory is larger than the Netherlands.
Traditional life, modern agriculture
The image of Mennonites as simple farmers with an aversion to modern amenities is only partially correct. Within conservative colonies, there are restrictions on certain means of communication, clothing and social customs. At the same time, some communities have extensive agricultural holdings with modern machinery, such as tractors and combine harvesters.
Mennonite colonies, especially in Bolivia and Paraguay, have developed into important agricultural producers. Their economic activities are not limited to their own food supply. They also produce crops for sale, such as soy and corn.
This combination of traditional community life and modern agricultural techniques makes the colonies attractive for entrepreneurs who want to develop large agricultural projects. The families bring experience, labor and sometimes their own capital. Their need for new land is in line with the ambitions of investors who want to make undeveloped areas suitable for agriculture.
Suriname also came into the picture. Since 2022, Mennonite groups from various countries have visited the country to explore settlement options. Agreements were made under the Santokhi government that ultimately led to great social concern.
Entrepreneurs behind location plans
One of the first initiatives ran through Terra Invest Suriname & Guyana, with which, among others, the Dutch entrepreneur Ruud Souverein and the Argentinian agricultural entrepreneur Adrián Barbero were connected. The plans provided for the settlement of Mennonite farming families on large areas of land.
Following protests from environmental organizations and indigenous representatives, the original project was halted by the Santokhi government in 2024. But interest in Suriname did not disappear.
New agricultural plans were introduced through Braganza Marketing Group. The company states that on January 13, 2026, three agreements were concluded with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries for projects along the Road to West Suriname, together covering 34,185 hectares.
Sovereign told in September the True Time that Braganza Marketing Group is taking into account the arrival of approximately 340 Mennonite families. This assumes an average of one hundred hectares per family. Investments were estimated at approximately US$22 million. “Over the past five years, groups have regularly come to Suriname and usually leave again after one or two weeks,” Soverein stated.
Braganza Marketing Group works with three Surinamese companies that represent agricultural groups from Belize and Mexico: Agriculture The Crown, Agriculture New Start and New Mexico Agriculture. The cooperatives involved determine themselves which families participate.
No land sale
Director Lionel Blokland refuted reports in September that Braganza Marketing Group would sell land to Mennonites. This would involve cooperation in which foreign partners contribute agricultural knowledge, capital and labor.
The company says it has usage rights for twenty years and expects to pay approximately thirteen million US dollars in taxes annually when fully implemented. For the time being, these revenues are business forecasts.
Suriname Green Energy Agriculture follows a separate process. Under the previous government, the company entered into a public-private partnership agreement for agricultural development and the production of biofuel, among other things. She was involved in the group of 63 Mennonites that were removed from the Mazonia area at the end of October. The lawsuit over their stay is separate from the agreements that Braganza Marketing Group says it has entered into.
LVV Minister Mike Noersalim emphasized in September that his ministry had not found a separate agreement with the Mennonites. Formal land allocation also falls under the authority of the Ministry of Land Policy and Forest Management. Environmental studies, permits and legal residency remain required.
“While the government and environmental organizations have reservations, entrepreneurs see opportunities for large-scale agriculture”
The plans have since caused division. Some communities see opportunities for employment and infrastructure. Environmental organizations fear that the arrival of large agricultural colonies will lead to deforestation and degradation of traditional habitats.
The concern is partly inspired by experiences elsewhere in Latin America. In Bolivia, Peru and Colombia, the expansion of Mennonite agricultural colonies has led to extensive forest loss, contentious land transactions and conflicts with indigenous communities. These experiences are examined in part 2 of this research file.
