Victims of human trafficking will soon be reimbursed for integration costs

Victims of human trafficking or those who come forward as witnesses will soon also be able to claim reimbursement for the costs of their integration. They are equated with recognized refugees, who will also be reimbursed by municipalities for the costs of the mandatory integration program. Outgoing Minister Karien van Gennip (Social Affairs) wrote in a parliamentary letter that this was her response to a request from D66.

Van Gennip also considered it undesirable that victims have to pay themselves, like other migrants. So far, only asylum migrants can be reimbursed the amount of about 10,000 euros. For that, the law needs to be changed, and that could take until 2025 when the next Cabinet also wants to move in that direction. Van Gennip will already start preparations and also check whether the planned regulation can be implemented in practice.

However, she said it is difficult to get good coverage of the target group by different agencies. She estimates that about 10 more people will benefit from this scheme each year, which will put a significant burden on the budget. According to the minister, this can be solved within the current budget. She believes that after a series of hurdles, integration practices are now moving in the right direction, although improvements are still needed.

Van Gennip also reported in the progress letter that there has been a sharp increase in the number of migrants fined for not integrating on time. In 2019, 3403 integration seekers were fined for missing deadlines. Between May 2022 and August 2023, there were 5,200 overruns. As a result, the minister has commissioned an investigation to find out why this happened.