National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

2.6.6 Crime-related factors and expectations
Policy and regulation
The factor that will most determine future developments in the nature and scale
of human trafficking is (changing) government policy and the regulation thereof.
One issue is that, since the ban on brothels was lifted in 2000, the regulation of
the prostitution sector has not been specified in an unambiguous manner. An
escort service, for example, may require a licence in some municipalities but not
in others. Another aspect is that forms of prostitution that do not involve a fixed
location, such as escort prostitution, are not (or cannot be) monitored as
intensively as forms of prostitution where a fixed location is involved. Although
exploitation can occur everywhere, there is an increased risk of exploitation in
these less monitored situations.
Relatively little is known about exploitation in sectors other than the sex
industry. Due to the fact that exploitation in other sectors was only made a
specific criminal offence in 2005, the alertness to signs is still limited.
Intensifying investigative and monitoring activities in this area in the future is
expected to result in an increase in the number of detected cases of other
forms of exploitation.
The exploitation of Romanian and Bulgarian Roma (children) may also increase in
the years to come. Bulgarian Roma begging and working as prostitutes seems to
be more of a problem in Belgium than in the Netherlands. Possible intensification
of Belgian measures to combat the criminal activities of Roma could result in an
increase in this problem in the Netherlands. It seems advisable to continue to
closely monitor Belgian policy with regard to the criminal activities of Roma.
Expansion of the European Union and the Schengen area
EU expansion has resulted in a substantial increase in the number of (labour)
migrants from Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. Neighbouring countries have
seen an increase in the number of victims – and sometimes also the number of
perpetrators – of human trafficking from these new member states. The asylum
procedure in the Netherlands has shown to be vulnerable to (potential) victims
of human trafficking being smuggled in for exploitation both in the Netherlands
and abroad. The expansion of the EU does not mean that illegal employment
and/or exploitation will stop. Shifts will occur in the victims’ countries of origin,
but vulnerable groups will still exist.
72 National Threat Assessment 2008 – Organised crime