Trafficking - Netherlands
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Trafficking Routes
The Netherlands is a country of destination and, to a lesser extent, transit for trafficking in women and children. According to a 2003 United Nations (UN) report, the Netherlands is one of the top nine destination countries for sex trafficking in the world.[1]
The Foundation against Trafficking in Women, a local nongovernmental organization (NGO), has delineated six regions of origin for trafficking victims in the Netherlands: Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East. According to the foundation, the majority of trafficking victims come from Central and Eastern Europe, notably Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.African countries of origin include Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo. From the Americas, victims hail mostly from the Dominican Republic but also from Brazil and Colombia. The number of victims from the Philippines and Thailand has fallen in recent years, whereas the number from China has increased.[2]
A 2002 report indicated that the majority of persons being trafficked to the Netherlands originated from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Russia—the bulk of them from Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. All together, Eastern and Central Europe and Balkan and Baltic countries account for three out of every four victims. A quarter of the victims are of Bulgarian nationality. Social workers and police officers working in the field have confirmed the rise of victims originating from Bulgaria.[3]
Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure
Although prostitution and brothels have long been tolerated in the Netherlands, in October 2000 the government officially lifted the 100-year-old official ban on brothels. Brothel owners are required to have official permits and licenses to run their businesses and must stick to certain rules, such as proper accounting, safety and sanitation regulations, and so on. The employment of minors, unwilling prostituted persons, or those without work permits is prohibited. The new law makes a distinction between voluntary and involuntary “sex workers”, providing the government with “the instrument to regulate the sex industry, abolish the modern sex slave trade and sexual abuse of minors, as well as combat the criminal side effects of prostitution, such as money laundering and dealing in drugs. By legalizing prostitution, the government aims to protect and improve the position of sex workers and prevent illegal immigrants from going into prostitution.” However, for non–European Union citizens, work permits are difficult to obtain. Before the new law, the presence of these immigrants was tolerated; now they are illegal. Some experts assert that the October 2000 law has pushed prostitution involving illegal immigrants underground, where these women in prostitution remain vulnerable and unprotected at the mercy of traffickers and pimps.[4] In fact, according to a 2002 government study, illegal prostitution persists in the Netherlands, and a two-tiered prostitution market has developed. Whereas legal Dutch prostitutes mostly work out of window displays and brothels, women in prostitution illegally work along highways, out of cafés, or out of similar establishments or arrange over the Internet or phone to meet their clients.[5]
The number of suspected Eastern European criminals operating in the Netherlands has more than tripled since 1996. These criminals are involved in trafficking in persons, among other crimes.[6] In January 2003, the national human trafficking rapporteur presented her second report on trafficking in the Netherlands. Findings revealed that suspects were mostly male and worked as part of a larger criminal network. Half of those arrested were Dutch (others included Albanians, Bulgarians, Nigerians, former Soviets, Turks, and former Yugoslavs). To coerce victims, the traffickers used violence and threats of violence, confined the victims, imposed debts, and confiscated victims’ passports. Victims came from Central and Eastern Europe and Africa, particularly Nigeria. Victims were also recruited in the Netherlands. Only an estimated 5 percent of victims reported the crime to the police.[7]
In the past 5 years, 675 employees at Amsterdam’s SchipholAirport have been arrested for helping illegal immigrants enter the Netherlands. Working in cleaning duty-free shops or for airlines, those arrested allegedly helped smuggle people into the country by using personnel entrances and exits that circumvented passport controls.[8]
Forms of Trafficking
Most female and child victims of trafficking end up working in the Dutch prostitution market.[9] Trafficking victims often enter the country legally on tourist, business, or au pair visas. Some enter marriages of convenience; others use forged documents.[10] Victims of trafficking in the Netherlands are mainly females between the ages of 21 and 24. One-fifth of the victims were underage at the time of recruitment from their countries of origin.[11]
Minors have been trafficked to the Netherlands for sexual exploitation for a number of years.[12] The number of Nigerian girls (and women) working in prostitution in the Netherlands has reportedly risen considerably in recent years.[13]Nigerian girls are brought there and forced into prostitution through sexual violence, physical violence, ritual practices, direct threats, and threats against the family. Eastern European girls are also trafficked to the Netherlands. Moroccan girls have been forced to work in the sex industry by boyfriends or other pimps who threaten to harm them or their families. Moroccan minors have been trafficked for domestic work as well.[14] Chinese women and girls are not found in red-light districts; instead they operate out of shops, private houses, or brothels in Chinese neighborhoods.[15]
The majority of underage prostituted males in the Netherlands are not only from Central and Eastern Europe but also increasingly from North African countries such as Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.[16] In a recently observed trend, Dutch nationals are being forced into the sex industry. They are primarily runaways or homeless children.[17]
Dutch sex tourists travel to Brazil,[18]Cambodia,[19] The Gambia,[20] and other countries. In April 2004, a Dutchman was arrested on suspicion of having sex with two 13-year-old boys in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.[21] In September 2004, a court in Vietnam handed down a 3-year prison sentence to a Dutch man on drug charges and for hiring Vietnamese girls to make pornographic films. He allegedly lured the girls to his apartment, where he forced them to drink a drug and make the films.[22] A Dutch national was charged with sex crimes against teenagers at a Cambodian beach resort in November 2004.[23]
Government Responses
The Criminal Code penalizes any person for “traffic in persons”[24] who, by violence, threat of violence, abuse of authority, or misrepresentation, causes a person to prostitute himself or herself,[25] recruits or kidnaps another person with the object of causing that person to become involved in prostitution in a foreign country,[26] or causes a minor to engage in prostitution.[27] Punishment for the trafficking offense is a fine or imprisonment for up to 6 years.[28]
The punishment increases to up to 8 years or a fine if the perpetrator commits the offense in conjunction with others, if he or she commits the offense against a person who has not yet reached the age of 16, or if serious bodily harm ensues as a result of the act.[29] If the offense is committed by an organized criminal group, the punishment is imprisonment for 10 years or a fine.[30]
An amendment to the Criminal Code ended the ban on brothels[31] and legalized commercial operations involving voluntary prostitution. Under the new law, a license is required to operate a brothel. The new law outlaws pimping.
Expulsion of an illegal alien who is a victim of trafficking may be suspended for 3 months, during which time the victim decides whether he or she wishes to report the trafficking offense. If the victim decides to report the offense, he or she is granted a residence permit for the duration of the investigation, prosecution, and trial of the perpetrator of the trafficking offense. A residence permit may be issued to a victim of trafficking on the conclusion of criminal proceedings. Such a permit would be granted on humanitarian grounds, taking into account, for example, the risk of reprisals against the victim and her family, the risk of persecution in her country of origin for committing an offense related to prostitution, and the probability of social reintegration in the country of origin.[32] This measure is consistent with the Aliens Act of 2000, which provides that a residence permit may be granted for a fixed period to an alien “who cannot, for pressing reasons of a humanitarian nature connected with the reasons for his departure from the country of origin, reasonably be expected … to return to his country of origin.”[33]
The Code of Criminal Procedure[34] allows for the identity of a “threatened witness”[35] to remain secret during the examination process if the witness’s life, health, or safety is at risk.[36] The code also provides that, to conceal the identity of the witness, the examining magistrate may refuse to allow the suspect, his or her counsel, or both to attend the examination of the threatened witness.[37] A statement made by a witness whose identity is not revealed may serve as evidence that the accused committed the offense with which he or she is charged, as long as it is an indictable offense.[38]
The constitution provides that “the right of every Dutch national to a free choice of work shall be recognized.”[39]
The Identification (Financial Services) Act and the Disclosure of Unusual Transactions Act require reporting of unusual or suspicious financial transactions, including cases of possible money laundering.
As of July 2004, a bill was being considered in parliament that would replace current provisions of the Criminal Code on trafficking in persons. Under the proposed bill, an offense of trafficking in persons will include not only trafficking for sexual exploitation but also trafficking for labor exploitation.[40]
In 1994, vice squads of the four main Dutch cities and the then Centrale Recherche Informatie Dienst (National Criminal Intelligence Service) of the Dutch police set up a Protocol Vrouwenhandel (Trafficking in Women Protocol). The purpose of the protocol was “to give direction to the prevention, reduction, and suppression of trafficking in women.” In 1997, the Politiële Belieids- en Adviesgroep Mensenhandel (Police Policy and Advice Group on Trafficking in Human Beings) was set up. The group represented a national working party of all police corps, the Centrale Recherche Informatie Dienst, and the Ministry of Justice. The purpose of the group was to prevent and suppress trafficking in persons by implementing a uniform national administrative, judicial, and police policy.[41]
A National Action Plan to Combat Sexual Abuse of Children is in place. In 2002, the Approach to Child Prostitution Handbook was published, one of the initiatives of the plan.[42]
The Bureau of the Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings (BNRM) was launched in April 2000. According to article 250a of the Criminal Code, the mandate of the BRNM is to gather and disseminate information in order to highlight problems and offer solutions for combating trafficking in persons. The rapporteur is required to present an annual report to the government that provides facts and figures on victims and perpetrators.[43]
Noted best practices of the Dutch government include the appointment of a national coordinating public prosecutor in the field of trafficking in persons and the presence of specialized public prosecutors on trafficking in regional prosecutions departments; a national project involving police experts on trafficking and prostitution; meetings every 2 months of police officers to discuss issues relating to trafficking; appointment of a Dutch national rapporteur on trafficking in human beings; state financing of the NGOs Foundation against Trafficking in Women and La Strada; presence of regional contact officers within the Immigration and Naturalization Office; and facilities, assistance, and aid provided by the B-9 regulation to victims and witnesses of trafficking.[44]
Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses
The Foundation against Trafficking in Women is a government-funded organization established to combat the trafficking in persons. The foundation’s office in Utrecht works in the areas of support and assistance, advocacy and campaigning, information dissemination and training, publications, and prevention.[45] The foundation is specifically mentioned in paragraphs 3.13, 3.2, and 4.5.2 of the B-9 regulation as having the responsibilities of administering relief to victims, lodging and registering victims, and continuing aid currently received by victims. To help administer these tasks, the foundation has organized regional relief networks.[46] About 10 relief networks exist in the Netherlands for reception and support of victims. Such networks bring together reception centers, police, legal assistance bureaus, and municipal and regional medical services.The Regional Relief Network Amsterdam runs shelters for victims in Amsterdam. Members of this network are the municipal and regional medical services, social workers, the Alien Police, the Immigration and Naturalization Office, the local government, Humanitas (an NGO), the Office of Legal Aid, and three shelters.These shelters can accommodate 55 women.[47]
La Strada was established in 1995 by a bilateral exchange between Foundation against Trafficking in Women and two women’s rights groups in Poland and the CzechRepublic. In 1997 and 1998, partners in Ukraine and Belarus joined the network, and in 2001 four new partners in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Moldova were formed.[48]
Numerous NGOs in the Netherlands work with prostituted minors, adults in prostitution, foreigners in prostitution, and victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. Those targeting young girls include Project 13, which focuses on girls between the ages of 13 and 23 who are being abused by young men or who have worked in prostitution.[49] Project 13 focuses on removing underage girls from prostitution, offering assistance, and prosecuting pimps and so-called loverboys. Asja is a residential reception facility for girls 16 to 23 years of age who are at risk of falling into prostitution, who already work in the sex industry, or who wish to exit from it. Asja provides a 24-hour reception, support, intervention, crisis reception, and after care.[50] The Beauty and the Beast is a prostitution prevention project in Utrecht focusing on girls age 13 to 16.[51] Pretty Woman focuses on young women and girls who run a high risk of getting into prostitution or who are forced to work in prostitution.[52] Prostitutie Maatschappelijk works with women who have been involved in prostitution since they were minors.[53] Nidos is a national guardianship organization for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum and is involved in trafficking matters.[54] The Humanitas Foundation Rotterdam: Prostitution Social Work works with both forced and voluntary persons involved in prostitution, some of whom are minors.[55]
End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) Netherlands is a coalition of five children’s and human rights organizations and one organization working on sustainable tourism. Members of ECPAT are engaged in prevention and rehabilitation programs for sexually exploited children throughout the world. Among other awareness-raising and training activities, ECPAT Netherlands monitors the implementation of the National Action Plan to Combat Sexual Abuse of Children.[56]
Several other organizations work to combat trafficking in the Netherlands. Stichting Prostitutie Projecten Den Haag (Prostitution Projects, The Hague Foundation) aims to assist foreign and Dutch women in prostitution. A good portion of its clientele consists of people who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation. Stichting Esperanza (Esperanza Foundation) is a European–Colombian organization working to prevent and combat international trafficking of women. Stichting Esperanza is mainly focused on a cross-border approach to the trade. Through cooperation between the countries of origin and the transit or destination country, victims are informed, offered assistance, and counseling.[57] The Stichting Religieuzen Tegen Vrouwenhandel (Foundation for the Religious against Trafficking) works to fight trafficking.[58] The Nigerian Democratic Movement Netherlands, in cooperation with Terre des Hommes, conducts investigations in the trade of Nigerian girls to the Netherlands.[59]
The Foundation of the Red Thread promotes the emancipation of women in prostitution and works to bring about changes in the social image of prostitution. The objectives of the organization are to aim for recognition of prostitution as a profession and to defend the interests of women in prostitution.[60] In August 2004, authorities announced that they would cut funding for the Foundation of the Red Thread and thus for the sex workers’ union it supports. Fear existed that, without the foundation, the union could not continue to function.[61]
Oxfam Netherlands and Humanitas supported a project called Bonded Labor Netherlands that was launched in 2000 to support female trafficking victims. Transnational STD–AIDS Prevention among Migrant Prostitutes in Europe is an outreach project founded in 1993 that operates in Austria, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. The network discusses changes in policy and lobbies for migrant workers. A large majority of its clients are victims of trafficking.[62]
The International Federation Terres des Hommes is currently a network of national organizations located in Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and Syria. Terres des Hommes supports hundreds of development and humanitarian aid projects in 72 countries and campaigns for the rights of children.[63] Terre des Hommes investigates child prostitution in the Netherlands.[64] In February 2003, the Dutch chapter documented rising child sex tourism in The Gambia and indicated that police had few resources with which to tackle the problem.[65]
Multilateral Initiatives
In October 2002, police from 15 European countries participated in an operation spearheaded by Italy and coordinated by Europol to dismantle an international trafficking network. Code-named Operation Girasole (Sunflower), the bust led to approximately 80 arrests. The network operated through travel companies based in Ukraine and obtained fake visas for women to enter the European Union (EU), with assistance from travel agencies and hotels based in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The other countries that took part in the investigation were Albania, Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, and Switzerland.[66]