Dutch shipping companies won't be prosecuted for exploiting North Korean workers

Dutch shipping companies that may have profited from exploiting North Korean workers won’t see any consequences. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) does not have to prosecute the companies for profiting from human trafficking, money laundering, and fencing stolen goods, the Court of Appeal ruled, Trouw reports.

La Strada International, a European platform of human rights NGOs, previously filed a complaint against several Dutch companies that had ships and parts of ships built at a Polish shipyard that exploited around 80 North Koreans between 2003 and 2018. According to Trouw, 90 percent of the ships built at the shipyard were intended for the Dutch market.

La Strada International accused the Dutch companies - including Boskalis and CIG Shipbuilding - of “knowingly accepting the significant possibility” that human trafficking was involved in the building of their ships and parts.

The OM previously refused to prosecute the companies due to insufficient evidence that Dutch companies actually profited from the exploitation of North Koreans. La Strata International therefore filed an Article 12 procedure, asking the court to force prosecution. The court now also ruled that prosecution was not viable. According to the court, there was insufficient evidence to establish a direct link between the violations and the accused companies.

The ruling is “a huge disappointment,” Suzanne Hoff of La Strada International told Trouw. “These dismissals once again show that it is currently impossible to hold companies responsible for serious forms of labor exploitation,” she said. “If we are serious about tackling human trafficking in Europe, we must tackle systemic practices of labor exploitation and demand that companies repair the damage done.”

Lawyer Barbara van Straaten of Prakken d’Oliveira, who represented the NGO, said that the bar for potential charges is too high in these types of cases. “Moreover, this outcome shows that current legislation does not provide sufficient protection for victims of these types of crimes.”