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Title: UPDATED state department report Post by: Tylergal on August 13, 2006, 07:52:46 AM Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery
Kingdom of the Netherlands (Holland) The Kingdom of the Netherlands, a constitutional monarchy, is located in NW Europe [map]. It is bounded by the North Sea (N & W), by Belgium (S), and by Germany (E). Although Amsterdam is its constitutional capital, The Hague is the administrative and governmental capital. The kingdom includes two overseas territories, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in the Caribbean Sea, both of which are self-governing parts of the Kingdom. The Netherlands has a prosperous and open economy, which depends heavily on foreign trade. The economy is noted for stable industrial relations, moderate unemployment and inflation, a sizable current account surplus, and an important role as a European transportation hub. The Netherlands is a destination and transit country for the trafficking of women and girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation; some trafficking for labor exploitation occurs. Victims continued to be trafficked from Central and Eastern Europe, Nigeria and Brazil. Reportedly, a significant percentage of the 25,000 individuals engaged in prostitution are trafficking victims. Internal trafficking of young, mostly foreign girls by Moroccan and Turkish pimps into sexual exploitation continued. The Netherlands Antilles, where the Netherlands exercises responsibility over visa issuance according to guidelines issued by the Netherlands Antilles, continued to be a concern as a transit region and destination for illegal migrants, some of whom may have been trafficked. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2006 |