In many cases, once the victim status of these people does not come to light when they are arrested by the police or the military police for residing in the Netherlands illegally, without documents.
The report entitled ‘Exploited' was produced by the organisation Bonded Labour in the Netherlands (BlinN), which helps trafficking victims and is affiliated with the Dutch chapter of the Oxfam.
Between June 2005 and December 2008, BlinN encountered 112 victims (88 female and 24 male), including 19 minors, in detention facilities for illegal immigrants. Almost all of the victims had been sexually exploited or forced into prostitution.
Afraid to tell
The report states it is difficult for police or military police to identify the detainees as victims because some are not able to talk about their ordeal. In many cases they dare not tell their story because of bad experiences with corrupt police officers in their country of origin.
BlinN argues that cooperation with detention facilities is essential: "Spiritual counsellors, rehabilitation officers and medical workers had regular and direct contact with detainees and were in a position to recognise them as victims of people traffickers and to refer them to the relevant authorities."
Even in cases where victims tell their story or press charges against those who exploited them, things regularly go wrong. BlinN reports many instances where culprits are not charged. Meanwhile the victims often end up in immigration detention, sometimes for extended periods.
Protection and help
In detention, victims are not offered access to certain entitlements, the organisation reports. A procedure in the Netherlands, known as the "B9 procedure", gives trafficking victims three months to think about their next course of action and to decide whether or not they want to testify at criminal proceedings. The procedure includes protection, help and a temporary residence permit.
Most of the victims described in the report come from Africa, mainly Nigeria. The number of victims from China is also considerable, and during 2007 and 2008 a relatively large proportion of the victims came from India.