Parliament orders research on human-trafficking

The Daily Herald writes that the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament unanimously adopted on Tuesday a ChristianUnion motion to initiate an independent investigation into human trafficking and prostitution in the Dutch Caribbean. According to Member of Parliament (MP) Gert-Jan Segers of the ChristianUnion and co-signer Roelof van Laar of the Labour Party PvdA, research is necessary because the countries Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten and the Dutch public entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba were mentioned in the Trafficking of Persons report of the United States Department of State as destinations and departure points for human trafficking. The ChristianUnion and PvdA are very concerned about human trafficking that takes place via the islands and the presence of forced prostitution and sexual abuse, which often are linked to human trafficking. According to Segers and Van Laar, little is known about the amount of human trafficking and forced prostitution on the islands. Segers said during the handling of the 2014 draft Kingdom Relations budget last week that he was sure the issues had the attention of the Dutch Government, but that he wanted to obtain a view of the policy effects to curb human trafficking and forced prostitution, the cooperation with the other countries in this area and the care for victims. The motion called on the Dutch Government to consult with the governments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten and to cooperate with Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba to initiate an independent investigation into the amount of human trafficking, forced prostitution and sexual abuse, as well as the effectiveness of the current policies.