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News | 19-04-2024 | 13:37
Legislation criminalizing human trafficking will be expanded and simplified to help detect and prosecute offenders and provide better protection for victims. This is the substance of the bill submitted to the House of Representatives by State Secretary for Justice and Security Van der Berg, also on behalf of Justice and Security Minister Jesir Göz-Zeglius and Social Affairs and Employment Minister Van Gennep.
Harsher penalties for offenders
This Bill is an important step by the Government and will make it easier to criminalise serious labour abuses suffered by vulnerable groups in the labour market, such as significant underpayments, unsafe working conditions or poor housing. To do this, a new offence of “serious disadvantage” will be introduced into the law. This will ensure offenders who abuse vulnerable groups in the workplace are punished.
In addition to abuse, there must be a serious disadvantage, such as substantial wage theft, violations of working hours and working time, poor housing conditions or restrictions on freedom (such as confiscation of passports). The Bill will make it easier to address these clear abuses through criminal law. Victims are often particularly vulnerable groups, such as migrant workers.
As State Secretary Van der Berg explains: “People still often become victims of human trafficking. They cannot live freely, which is something we should never accept as a society. We have a responsibility to protect victims and to fight perpetrators.”
Minister Van Gennep added: “Migrant workers are often treated below the standards we should set in the Netherlands. We are therefore taking a number of measures to improve the situation. This bill will make it easier to prosecute offenders who commit serious violations of migrant workers’ working and living conditions. This is an important step, as the bar for prosecution is currently set too high.”
The Act also expands the scope of action against criminals who profit from trafficking. It defines more clearly what actions are punishable. This will help the institutions responsible for investigating, prosecuting and trying such actions, such as the police, the Netherlands Labour Inspectorate, the Public Prosecution Service and the judiciary.
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