A man shot and killed on Papaverweg in Amsterdam Noord on Monday night, was identified as gym owner Saban Berk. In 2014 the gym owner told Dutch media that he was often mistaken for, still at large, sex trafficker Saban B. He does not only have the same first name as the convicted human trafficker, but also a similar appearance, NU.nl reports.
human trafficking
Apr 15 '19 09:17
The Dutch government is preparing more housing and counseling for victims of human trafficking, Minister Hugo de Jonge of Public Health, Welfare and Sports announced. A total of 36 new reception centers will be opened in five municipalities this year.
Apr 3 '19 08:17
The police arrested two men in De Bilt and Zeist on Monday morning. They are suspected of human trafficking at two addresses in Utrecht. The two involved houses were placed on lockdown by the municipality last year, the police said in a statement.
According to the police, the 63-year-old man from De Bilt and 59-year-old man from Zeist rented two properties in Utrecht where the operated illegal sex establishments and facilitated prostitution. The municipality of Utrecht closed down the two properties when these suspicions were confirmed in November last year.
Jan 16 '19 12:00
State Secretary Tamara van Ark of Social Affairs and Employment called on the public to report abuses in nail salons in the Netherlands. There are signals of human trafficking and exploitation in the fast growing sector. "The Inspectorate works through reports, then they can intervene. It is therefore important that we all keep our eyes open, because we can not do it alone", she said to NOS.
Jan 11 '19 10:40
My Red Light, Amsterdam's sex-worker run brothel, is in desperate need of rescue. The running of a safe and financially sound prostitution business by sex workers themselves is a too ambitious project, independent investigator Corrine Dettmeijer, formerly the National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking, concluded after investigating the business. "I think the municipality should never have started this", she said, Het Parool reports.
Dec 17 '18 11:50
The police caught five escorts working without the necessary permits during an undercover operation against illegal prostitution and human trafficking in Breda on Saturday. One of the sex workers had her 2-year-old daughter waiting in the car while she worked, the police said.
Veilig Thuis, the organization that deals with child abuse and domestic violence, was called in after the discovery of the toddler in the car. "The file of this family is known there; Veilig Thuis is working on it", the police said.
Oct 19 '18 11:40
The approach to human trafficking in the Netherlands improved considerably in the past years, but many victims are still invisible to aid agencies, National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking Herman Bolhaar said on Thursday - the European day against human trafficking, NOS reports.
According to Bolhaar, only one in five victims end up on the radar of CoMensha, the coordination center against human trafficking. Current estimations say that between 5 and 7 thousand men, women and children fall victim to human trafficking in the Netherlands each year.
Sep 25 '18 09:10
A former group leader of youth care institution Hoenderloo Groep in Apeldoorn appeared in court on Monday on charges of forcing an underage girl at the institution into prostitution. The PvdA will ask parliamentary questions about this case, Omroep Gelderland reports.
Aug 28 '18 14:00
A 47-year-old man from Greece was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking in the Zeeland town of Colijnsplaat on Saturday. He was caught smuggling eight people on a sailboat sailing under the Belgian flag, the Koninklijke Marechaussee said on Monday, NU.nl reports.
The eight people were found in the boat's cabin during a check in the port of Colijnsplaat. The Marechaussee - a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military - believe they come from Albania and were being smuggled to England.
The investigation is ongoing.
Aug 24 '18 09:07
A Syrian man was sentenced to two years in prison, four months of which conditionally suspended, for trafficking children through Schiphol. Between December 2016 and February 2018 the man smuggled five children from Greece, through Schiphol and into the Netherlands, AT5 reports.
According to the Public Prosecutor, the man himself is an asylum seeker from Syria. He told the court that he wanted to help separated families by bringing their children to them. He called the trafficking an expression of "charity", according to the broadcaster.
Jul 10 '18 08:19
A man was arrested for human trafficking on the N65 near Oisterwijk on Sunday night. He had an Eritrean woman and her two young children in the van with him, Omroep Brabant reports.
A witness noticed something wrong with the van's license plates at around 10:00 p.m. on Sunday and called the police. A patrolling police car was in the area and pulled the van over. The number plates turned out to be falsified.
Jul 9 '18 11:20
A man was arrested in Steenwijk on suspicion of human trafficking. He offered passersby sex with an underage girl on parking lot De Ruinen along the N375 in Ruinerwold on Saturday, the police said in a statement on Sunday.
The police tracked the man down based on an anonymous tip, which included the license plate of the man's car, received on Saturday evening. The suspect was found in Steenwijk, along with an underage girl. She was questioned and transferred to a safe place.
Jun 15 '18 11:30
Michel M. from Winschoten was sentenced to eight years in prison and institutionalized psychiatric treatment for various sex crimes against his 13-year-old niece. The court in Groningen convicted the 45-year-old man of sexually abusing, exploiting and making child pornography of the girl, NU.nl reports.
Jun 14 '18 16:00
The Rotterdam investigative authorities are going to use cameras for extra surveillance at the port of Rotterdam. They hope that this will help in the fight against cocaine- and human trafficking. "In this way the net around the cocaine traffickers will be pulled tighter again", Bert Wiersema, director of enforcement policy at customs, said NU.nl reports.
The first new cameras were installed on the Maasvlakte following a successful test on Sluisjesdijk. Almost 200 more will be added in the coming years.
Jun 8 '18 12:10
The police need to change their approach to handling sexual abuse and human trafficking, according to Merel van Groningen, experience expert and counselor for loverboy victims. Fewer and fewer underage victims come forward because of the police's attitude, she said to the Telegraaf.
"I know of cases of minor loverboy victims who were told by a detective: 'but it was your own fault'. You've lost such a victim", Van Groningen said.
May 22 '18 07:41
Last week the police arrested over 100 people in a nationwide campaign against so-called 'mobile banditry' - gangs of criminals that travel from place to place to commit crimes. The detainees include shoplifters, baby formula thieves, pickpockets, drug traffickers, identity thieves and even a fake cop, the police said in a statement on Monday night.
The nationwide action was held between Tuesday and Friday last week. Multiple people were arrested at Amsterdam Central Station for pickpocketing, or attempts thereto.
Apr 18 '18 15:50
Albanian criminals are increasingly playing leading roles in organized crime in Amsterdam, according to a so-called trend analysis by the Amsterdam police. They are mainly engaged in cocaine trafficking, but also in human trafficking and property fraud, NU.nl reports.
According to the police, these Albanian criminals lead the cocaine import from South America, the transhipment via the port of Rotterdam, and the further distribution to other European countries from Amsterdam. In addition to the Netherlands, Albanians are also very active in the drug trade in Great Britain.
Jan 22 '18 09:49
Hundreds of Roma children are being used by family members as pickpockets, burglars or even sex slaves in the Netherlands, various experts and aid workers said to Nieuwsuur. The police responded that 400 detectives work on hundreds of human trafficking cases per year, including the exploitation of Roma children. Police officers will get extra training this year on recognizing the signs of human trafficking.
Oct 23 '17 07:40
Saban B., a sex trafficker sentenced to 8 years in prison by a Dutch court, is now running call centers from Turkey which sell dishonest energy contracts to Germans, according to reporters for German newspaper Der Spiegel. People who buy contracts through the call center, have to pay more money than agreed to over the phone, among other things.
Oct 18 '17 08:46
Over 6 thousand people, mostly women, are annually exploited for prostitution or webcam sex in the Netherlands, according to a new report by National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking Corinne Dettmeijer. With that, the number of human trafficking victims in the country is five times higher than assumed, RTL Nieuws reports.
Oct 9 '17 19:06
The VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie are now really very almost done with their government agreement, ChristenUnie leader Gert-Jan Segers said to NOS on Friday afternoon. But he thinks the four parties will have to meet again on Monday.
There will be no meetings over the weekend. The ChristenUnie respects the Sunday rest. "And on Saturday I have other plans", Segers said to the broadcaster.
Oct 9 '17 12:00
Unlicensed escort agencies and pimps in the Netherlands will soon face criminal prosecution, according to agreements made by the VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie in their government formation talks, RTL Nieuws reports. The new government wants a harsher approach to illegal prostitution as part of the fight against human trafficking, sources confirmed to the broadcaster.
Under current Dutch law, illegal prostitution companies can get an administrative fine for working without a license. In the future they will face criminal prosecution, with prison being a possible punishment.
Sep 7 '17 11:30
The police arrested a truck driver in Hoevelaken on Wednesday night after a body was found in the hold of his truck. He is suspected of human trafficking, NOS reports.
The body was discovered while the truck was being unloaded at De Wel industrial park. The police can't yet say how the man died. His identity is also still unknown.
The truck driver is a 50-year-old foreigner, according to the police.
Aug 21 '17 08:13
The number of people prosecuted for human trafficking in the Netherlands last year, was a quarter lower than the year before, NRC reported on Monday based on figures from the Council for the Judiciary. This does not necessarily mean that human trafficking decreased, but rather that the police are giving priority to other crimes, experts said to the newspaper.
Last year 103 people were convicted of human trafficking, compared to 139 in 2015 and 156 in 2013.
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