• Increase efforts to proactively identify victims, particularly victims of forced labor and forced criminality, by screening for trafficking indicators among vulnerable populations, including asylum-seekers and children.
• Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms.
• Provide all potential trafficking victims, including foreign nationals without legal residency, with protection services, regardless of their ability or decision to participate in criminal proceedings.
• Establish and implement policies to formally disconnect identification procedures and official victim status from investigations and prosecutions.
• Implement a standardized, national process for the identification and referral of victims and refer all victims to appropriate care.
• Develop and consistently enforce strong regulations and oversight of labor recruitment companies, including by eliminating recruitment fees charged to migrant workers and holding fraudulent labor recruiters criminally accountable.
• Increase the availability of protection services – including short-term shelter, long-term housing, and psycho-social assistance – for all trafficking victims.
• Continue efforts to strengthen the child protection system to protect against vulnerability to trafficking, including among unaccompanied children in the asylum system.
• Improve coordination and information-sharing with anti-trafficking counterparts across the Kingdom of the Netherlands, including in Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten.
• Ensure all potential foreign victims are offered a reflection period.
• Ensure victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.
• Implement results-based training and mentoring of officials in the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba (BES) to increase identification of victims and prosecution of traffickers.
• Expand the rapporteur’s mandate or assign another independent body to evaluate anti-trafficking efforts and assess trafficking prevalence in the BES islands.

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts.

Article 273f of the criminal code criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed punishments of up to 12 years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to €87,000 ($90,531) for trafficking crimes involving an adult victim, and up to 15 years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to €87,000 ($90,531) for those crimes in which the victim was a child. These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape. Article 273g criminalized knowingly soliciting a sex trafficking victim, with penalties of up to four years’ imprisonment or a fine for soliciting an adult sex trafficking victim, and up to six years’ imprisonment or a fine for soliciting a child sex trafficking victim. The government frequently prosecuted child sex trafficking crimes as child sexual abuse (Article 248b), which carried lesser penalties. The BES criminal code criminalized sex and labor trafficking under Article 286f and prescribed penalties ranging from six to 15 years’ imprisonment.

The government reported preliminary law enforcement data for 2024, as finalized data was not yet available. Police initiated 142 trafficking investigations involving 201 suspects, compared with 213 investigations involving 325 suspects in 2023. The government initiated prosecutions of 236 alleged traffickers, compared with 238 prosecutions in 2023. Courts convicted 45 trafficking cases compared with 57 convictions in 2023; of these, the government reported convicting 40 sex trafficking cases and less than ten forced labor cases and less than ten unspecified trafficking cases. The government does not provide exact numbers or disaggregate by sex or labor trafficking for situations with fewer than 10 cases, in order to protect the anonymity of suspects and victims. Courts sentenced 40 traffickers to imprisonment and less than five traffickers to community service or a fine. Of the 40 traffickers sentenced to prison time, courts sentenced 30 traffickers to terms of imprisonment ranging from one to five years and 10 traffickers received a sentence of less than one year in prison; courts partially or fully suspended at least 50 percent of sentences. Lenient sentencing practices weakened deterrence, did not adequately reflect the nature of the crime, and undercut broader efforts to combat trafficking. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes. In 2024, authorities convicted the first individual ever under Article 273g. Law enforcement efforts remained minimal in the BES islands, with concerns trafficking issues in the BES islands were under-reported and under-acknowledged; however, in 2024, the government reported efforts to amend the BES criminal code Article 273f on human trafficking, and trained various law enforcement staff, including on identifying human trafficking and, especially, labor trafficking. The Dutch Caribbean Police Corps, which operated exclusively in the BES islands, did not report trafficking investigations or prosecutions, but reported one conviction, compared with zero investigations, prosecutions or convictions in 2023 and 2022, and one investigation, prosecution, and conviction in Bonaire in 2021.

Regional police units maintained specialized teams with trained anti-trafficking detectives and experts, including financial investigators; the national police also had dedicated anti-trafficking officers. Specialized anti-trafficking prosecutors and judges tried and heard cases. Observers previously reported resourcing for regional anti-trafficking police units and the Dutch Expertise Center in Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling, which served as the law enforcement knowledge sharing body, was inadequate to address the complexity of human trafficking investigations. According to a 2024 national rapporteur’s report, most convicted traffickers between 2019 and 2023 received unconditional custodial sentences and prosecutors dismissed nearly half of trafficking cases on grounds of insufficient evidence. The government trained law enforcement, immigration officials, labor inspectors, prosecutors, and judges on anti-trafficking; training remained institutionalized as part of the standard professional curriculum across agencies. All new police recruits received a human trafficking module as part of basic training, and anti-trafficking police officers received additional training. The public prosecutor’s office trained all new prosecutors on how to apply the non-punishment principle for trafficking victims. The government mandated training on victim identification for professionals in direct contact with potential victims. Judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys continued to receive specialized training in applying the anti-trafficking law and trauma-informed care for victims.

Observers noted authorities in the BES islands lacked expertise and did not thoroughly investigate trafficking cases. Authorities in Bonaire maintained a trafficking database, which served as a repository for future trafficking investigations. The Kingdom of the Netherlands continued to fund a recurring anti-trafficking training opportunity for border protection officials in Sint Maarten and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee embedded officers in the Sint Maarten police anti-trafficking unit to mitigate staffing limitations. The Kingdom of the Netherlands continued funding up to €16 million ($16.65 million) in border security measures, including trafficking training, in Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten from 2021 until 2028. Dutch authorities trained customs and coast guard officials in the BES islands and seconded Dutch law enforcement staff to the BES islands, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. Observers reported many law enforcement officials were unfamiliar with the seconding system and the countries did not take full advantage of this program.

The government continued to lead EUROPOL’s European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) program on human trafficking, a security initiative to investigate and combat human trafficking. In September 2024, Dutch authorities co-led an operation with 27 countries aimed at recognizing online human trafficking crimes, which led to the identification of 60 potential trafficking victims. In June 2024, Dutch authorities, in coordination with EUROPOL, led a joint operation with 31 countries focused on identifying labor exploitation among non-EU nationals and refugees; the operation led to 51 arrests for labor exploitation, the identification of 334 potential victims and 51 new investigations. In November 2024, Dutch authorities, with support from INTERPOL and the OSCE, coordinated a four-day operational action targeting online platforms and social media used to recruit trafficking victims. The government maintained a 2016 MOU on law enforcement cooperation, including anti-trafficking cooperation, with Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and the United States.

The government maintained victim protection efforts.

In 2023, the most recent year for which official data was available, the government-funded national victim registration center and the assistance coordinator registered 868 potential trafficking victims, compared with 814 in 2022, 845 in 2021, 984 in 2020, and 1,334 in 2019. Observers highlighted several possible reasons for the fewer number of potential victims identified in recent years, including law enforcement linking victim identification to the prospect of a successful investigation; no requirement for civil society to report potential victims to the national victim registration center; and insufficient coordination between the national and local levels. Of the 868 potential victims, traffickers exploited 463 in sex trafficking and 414 in labor trafficking, including 122 in forced criminality, and 31 in unspecified forms of human trafficking; some victims experienced multiple forms of trafficking. The government provided data on each type of trafficking, rather than by individual, resulting in some double counting in the statistics. Authorities in the BES islands did not identify any victims for the third consecutive year, compared with two victims identified in Bonaire in 2021. Police used a combined intelligence and investigative model to identify potential victims in police reports unrelated to human trafficking; this model included indicators to screen for trafficking among vulnerable populations. Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten relied heavily on the Netherlands for funding local anti-trafficking efforts, and observers assessed these funding levels as insufficient.

The government required first responders, including law enforcement, to immediately refer potential victims to the NGO officially tasked and funded by the government to register victims and coordinate protection services; other organizations and private citizens could also refer victims to the NGO but were not required to do so. The Netherlands did not have a formalized NRM, and the national rapporteur recommended implementing a structure to streamline and standardize referrals of victims to care. Upon registration, the NGO referred victims to a shelter, if desired, and advised victims on available services. Of the 868 potential victims identified, authorities identified and referred 258 victims (30 percent) to the NGO. Observers continued to report the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which required non-law enforcement organizations to obtain consent from the victim before official registration unless a “justified interest” existed, continued to deter some victims from registering and hindered data sharing. Nevertheless, experts agreed it was not the GDPR itself that caused victims to fear stigmatization as a trafficking victim and withdraw from the victim process, but rather the strict interpretation of the regulation by many non-law-enforcement organizations due to fear of being non-compliant with EU privacy regulations. Observers reported the government did not provide practical guidance to first responders on the GDPR and how to report potential victims. Non-registered victims could access services from non-government funded NGOs. The government reported it trained asylum reception and immigration officials on trafficking indicators and how to report potential cases, including instructions for case workers to identify potential victims. However, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) reported the government’s efforts to identify trafficking victims among asylum-seekers was ineffective and noted some asylum-seekers identified as trafficking victims were not provided trafficking-specific protection services. The national rapporteur noted law enforcement screening for sex trafficking victims varied across municipalities and called for consistent screening.

Local governments funded an extensive network of care facilities for Dutch victims and foreign victims with legal residency status; the local shelters provided accommodation to trafficking victims and victims of other crimes. Dutch victims and foreign victims with a valid residency permit or status were eligible for a full-range of social services, including medical and psycho-social care, housing, and education assistance. The government provided local governments €3 million ($3.12 million), compared with €2 million ($2.08 million) in 2023, to fund specialized care for approximately 36 victims with multiple needs in local shelters. The government provided victims without legal residency status a three-month reflection period in one of three NGO-managed specialized trafficking shelters during which time they could choose to press charges against the trafficker; victims could leave shelters but were not allowed to work during this time. Potential victims subject to the “Dublin” regulation – a rule governing which “Dublin” country (EU countries, Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway) should assess an asylum-seeker’s application – who did not apply for asylum in the Netherlands could receive a 30-day reflection period. After the reflection period, victims who agreed to assist police could continue to stay in shelters and were eligible for a temporary residency status allowing them to work. Observers noted the granting of a reflection period was at authorities’ discretion and there was no mechanism to appeal a decision. The government funded the three specialized NGO-managed shelters with approximately 51 spaces for trafficking victims; the government provided €1.4 million ($1.46 million) to these shelters, compared with €1.3 million ($1.35 million) in 2023. Both the NGO-managed shelters and local shelters provided medical and psycho-social care, language and skills training, and legal assistance; most had facilities accessible to individuals with disabilities. Observers reported a lack of shelter for some victims resulted in some victims staying at police stations or hotels. The national rapporteur reported gaps in the initial reception and referral of victims to appropriate and timely shelter. NGOs also reported the level of services provided varied, depending on a municipality’s financial priorities, and observers reported long wait times for psycho-social services. Observers reported victim care provision was fragmented and disorganized and called on the government to create a victim assistance coordination mechanism. In 2024, the government appointed a project leader to develop an approach, including on the regional provision of shelters for victims. Observers reported authorities sometimes penalized victims for unlawful acts committed solely as a direct result of being trafficked; civil society noted many trafficking victims exploited in forced criminality were reluctant to participate in investigations because they feared prosecution or reprisals from traffickers. Two grounds for dismissal of cases were available to prosecutors, including for cases where victims committed criminal offenses under coercion; however, observers noted, in practice, authorities’ application of this principle varied, noting an example of a conviction of victims forced to engage in drug trafficking. Dutch law did not have a specific provision for the non-punishment of victims for crimes they committed as a direct result of being trafficked.

The government placed child victims in specialized shelters for children, foster homes, or returned them home when deemed safe. Child victims were also afforded child-friendly environments during legal proceedings, including designated facilities and closed court room hearings. However, children remained vulnerable in the protection system; civil society continued to report care workers were not sufficiently trained to identify child victims and the level of specialized services children received varied widely by municipality. The Dutch national rapporteur noted with concern the decline in the identification of child victims. Previous reports indicated unaccompanied children who applied for asylum in the Netherlands often could not be located; these missing children were highly vulnerable to trafficking.

The government instructed prosecutors to prioritize victims’ privacy, safety, and health, including limiting the number of interviews and conducting interviews without delay; and allowing victims not to testify as a witness during public trials. Observers previously asserted lengthy trials re-traumatized victims. Although victims were entitled to free legal aid during criminal proceedings, the government did not provide legal assistance to victims during the initial interview with law enforcement; observers reported this interview could have significant legal consequences and affect the duration of the reflection period granted to the victim. The law allowed the seizure of a perpetrator’s assets before a rendered legal judgement to ensure payment of potential claims and allowed any person who suffered direct injury to join the criminal proceedings and claim damages. Judges often awarded restitution to victims and if the perpetrator did not pay the court-ordered amount within eight months, the government paid the victim the amount awarded and assumed responsibility for collecting the payment from the perpetrator. Courts ordered significant restitution awards in several cases in 2024; for example, in one case, a court granted a labor trafficking victim €206,013 ($214,374). The 2024 national rapporteur report noted courts ordered restitution in over half of the trafficking cases that resulted in a conviction over at least the last five years. Victims, regardless of legal residency in the Netherlands, could claim compensation through the Violent Offenses Compensation Fund. Victims could also file a civil suit; however, observers reported victims often were unable to claim compensation through civil suits because of the cost associated with filing a claim, a lack of free legal aid for victims in civil suits, and no mechanism to recover the award from the trafficker. Victims in the BES islands could also apply for compensation from the Violent Offenses Compensation Fund, although the government did not report if any victims in the BES did so or if they were awarded compensation.

Non-EU victims without legal residency status, who were willing to press charges, were eligible for a short-term residence permit (B-8 permit), valid for a maximum of five years; the B-8 permit allowed non-EU victims to seek employment. If authorities decided to prosecute the suspected trafficker, the victim was eligible to receive permanent B-8 legal residency. The government reported 1,030 foreign victims applied for the permanent B-8 permit in 2024, of which the government granted 370. The B-8 residence permit was contingent upon victim cooperation with law enforcement, and consequently, all government-sponsored support services. Moreover, authorities did not provide potential victims subject to the “Dublin” regulation with a B-8 permit after filing a police report, but rather after prosecutors notified immigration authorities that the potential victim’s stay in the country was necessary for the investigation and prosecution of a case. Some NGOs noted law enforcement could drop a case if it did not immediately find sufficient potential evidence for a successful prosecution, leading to victims potentially being excluded from services. A government report previously recommended separating the B-8 permit process from the existence of a police report and criminal investigation. A victim could apply for asylum, or request a residence permit for humanitarian reasons, if their case closed without a conviction or they declined to assist in an investigation. The government did not report the number of potential victims who applied for asylum. Authorities worked with civil society to repatriate foreign victims unable to acquire residence permits; the government did not report how many victims were repatriated.

The government increased prevention efforts.

The Human Trafficking Task Force, officially chaired by the Minister of Justice and Security (MJS), and in practice, chaired by the chief national prosecutor and composed of local and national government authorities, the private sector, and NGO representatives, set long-term anti-trafficking policies, while MJS led the implementation and coordination of anti-trafficking efforts; the task force met twice in 2024. The national coordinator for the Dutch Caribbean continued to collaborate regularly, virtually and in-person, with national anti-trafficking coordinators from Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten, including on best practices and awareness campaigns, and continued the MOU outlining anti-trafficking efforts across the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The government also supported awareness campaigns in the BES islands, including for law enforcement, hospitality, and healthcare sectors. The national rapporteur was tasked with monitoring policy implementation, gathering and reporting statistics, and making recommendations to the government and, in 2024, published a report on 2019-2023 trafficking trends, victim identification, and the asylum process. The mandate of the national rapporteur did not extend to the BES islands. The government continued implementing its 2023-2027 NAP; however, observers reported the NAP lacked measurable indicators and metrics. In 2024, parliament requested the government strengthen the NAP and provide additional resources for its implementation; in response, the government committed an additional €500,000 ($520,291) on top of €2 million ($2.08 million) in annual funding for the NAP. The government allocated an additional €782,467 ($814,222) to a range of anti-trafficking projects. The government funded an NGO-led research project on combating child forced criminality and other topics. The government, both independently and in partnership with local governments and NGOs, conducted various awareness campaigns, and government funding supported anti-trafficking awareness campaigns in Aruba and Curaçao. A government-funded NGO maintained a labor trafficking victim assistance hotline during regular business hours; the NGO reported 737 individuals contacted the hotline in 2024, of which 293 showed signs of human trafficking, compared with 425 in 2023. The government maintained a website to report trafficking crimes. The government provided assistance and training overseas and funded multiple anti-trafficking programs, including €55.15 million ($55.39 million) for a project in the Middle East and Africa and funded two international organizations with €10.5 million ($10.93 million) for a capacity-building project in West Africa.

Although observers noted the government’s increased focus on labor abuses, experts asserted ambiguity regarding the legal distinctions between labor trafficking and poor labor practices made it difficult to effectively tackle labor trafficking. The government did not have a licensing system for labor recruitment companies and temporary work agencies, nor did it prohibit worker paid recruitment fees. In 2023, the government introduced legislation to create a mandatory certification system for recruitment agencies; however, the legislation remained pending at the close of the reporting period. The Netherlands Labor Authority (NLA) Criminal Investigations Department maintained a division created to exclusively investigate labor exploitation, including labor trafficking, and dedicated 30 full-time employees to the division. The government did not report if the data processing mechanism the NLA and police used to share information resulted in law enforcement action on labor trafficking cases. Third country nationals who enter the Netherlands on regular work visas could change employers with a new application. The foreign ministry continued to inform domestic workers associated with foreign diplomats, without their employers present, on how to report cases of abuse.

The government required businesses to follow the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, ensuring businesses engage in a risk-based, due diligence approach to identify adverse human rights impacts, including forced labor, in their supply chains and authorities could prosecute employers or companies, including for forced labor in supply chains. In 2024, the Hague Court of Appeal ruled two Dutch companies would not be prosecuted for benefiting for human trafficking, after allegations of North Korean individuals exploited in forced labor at the Dutch companies’ supplier shipyard located in Poland. The government previously drafted amendments to the criminal code aiming to expand criminal liability for profiting from human trafficking crimes and other labor abuses; the amendments remained pending for the second consecutive reporting period.

The government made efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, including media campaigns targeting potential consumers of commercial sex. The government continued to implement a national plan against extraterritorial child sexual abuse and exploitation and screened for potential national and foreign perpetrators at airports in cooperation with foreign governments. The government supported NGO-conducted projects to combat extraterritorial child sexual abuse and exploitation by Dutch nationals abroad, including an awareness campaign to encourage Dutch travelers to report suspicious activity, and funded an NGO-operated reporting center to encourage travelers and flight staff to file reports of suspected extraterritorial child sexual abuse and exploitation. The government continued training immigration, hotel, aviation, customs, and labor inspection staff in methods to identify victims and perpetrators of extraterritorial child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Observers noted the lack of available reception places, particularly at the country’s perennially overcrowded central reception center, forced some asylum-seekers to sleep outside reception centers or stay in crisis emergency shelters for extended periods of time, increasing asylum-seekers’ vulnerability to trafficking. Additionally, the national rapporteur reported the closure of a refugee registration center, specific to Ukrainian refugees, in August 2024, and other centers in larger cities operating at full capacity, may further increase asylum-seekers’ vulnerability to trafficking.

Trafficking affects all communities. This section summarizes government and civil society reporting on the nature and scope of trafficking over the past five years. Human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in the Netherlands. Traffickers are overwhelmingly male, and the majority are Dutch and younger than 30 years old. Since 2020, the majority of victims originate from Europe, whereas in prior years most victims were from Africa. Traffickers exploit Dutch victims, and persons from Eastern Europe, South America, and Africa in sex trafficking. Traffickers recruit victims through online platforms, including on online messaging platforms, and increasingly exploit sex trafficking victims, online or in private accommodations. Young male traffickers use romance scams to coerce vulnerable girls and women into sex trafficking, often by presenting a sham romantic relationship. Traffickers recruit victims through fraudulent job advertisements for work in the Netherlands, then seize their passports, further increasing their vulnerability to labor trafficking. Labor traffickers exploit adults from Eastern Europe, Africa, and South and East Asia, and Latin America in catering, retail, inland shipping, leisure river cruises, agriculture, horticulture, hospitality, domestic servitude, construction, fishing, transportation, and forced criminal activity. Tens of thousands of refugees, mostly women and children, fleeing the Russia-Ukraine war reside in the Netherlands and remain vulnerable to trafficking. Refugees and asylum-seekers, including unaccompanied children and children in government-run asylum centers, are vulnerable to labor and sex trafficking. A significant number of unaccompanied children have gone missing and are vulnerable to exploitation. Traffickers increasingly exploit children and young adults in forced criminality, including drug trafficking or theft. Criminal groups force Romani children into pickpocketing and shoplifting rings. Dutch nationals exploit children in extraterritorial child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Human traffickers exploit foreign victims in the BES islands. Increasingly, traffickers exploit Venezuelan women in sex trafficking in the BES islands. Labor traffickers may exploit adults in domestic servitude and in the agricultural, retail, and construction sectors. Women in commercial sex and unaccompanied children are highly vulnerable to trafficking on the islands, and some migrants in restaurants and local businesses may be vulnerable to labor trafficking through debt-based coercion.

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* The Netherlands, along with the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten are autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Kingdom is an important contributor to these islands’ anti-trafficking efforts. The Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba (BES) islands are special municipalities of the Netherlands and are fully under the authority of the Dutch government.