Taking stock of labour trafficking in the Netherlands

• Authors: Masja van Meeteren , Nikki Heideman

Title variants

PL

Bilans zjawiska handlu ludźmi do pracy przymusowej w Holandii

Abstracts

PL

In the Netherlands, labour trafficking was criminalised as human trafficking in 2005. Since then, criminal investigations into labour trafficking have slowly taken off. Building on a content analysis of files and reports from the labour inspectorate, this paper contributes to the currently limited body of knowledge on the nature of labour trafficking. It does so by focussing on scholarly debates about the nature of the crime and its relation to labour migration. Based on the analysis, it is argued that the bulk of labour trafficking should be understood as a by-product of labour migration, and that labour trafficking often arises from the economic opportunistic motives of businesses and only occasionally occurs in criminal environments. In addition, the paper adds to our understanding of the prosecution of human trafficking by analysing why so many labour trafficking cases in the Netherlands have not resulted in a conviction. Building on a qualitative analysis of case law, it is shown that a major problem in getting suspects convicted is that the human rights threshold against which cases of labour trafficking are tested is often not surpassed, as the abuses in the labour market are often deemed not excessive enough to qualify as human trafficking.   W Holandii praca przymusowa jest jedną z form przestępstwa handlu ludźmi od 2005 roku. Od tego momentu stopniowo zaczęto prowadzić postępowania karne w sprawach o pracę przymusową. Niniejszy artykuł, oparty o badanie aktowe i analizę raportów inspekcji pracy, stanowi uzupełnienie cały czas stosunkowo niewielkiej wiedzy na temat zjawiska pracy przymusowej. Koncentruje się na naukowych rozważaniach o przestępstwie i jego związku z migracją zarobkową. Przeprowadzona analiza pozwala stwierdzić, że praca przymusowa jest zwykle postrzegana jako zjawisko związane z handlem ludźmi (stanowiąc niejako jego „produkt uboczny”), podczas gdy tak naprawdę sporadycznie pojawia się ona w środowiskach przestępczych. Częściej bowiem wynika z wyrachowanego działania samych przedsiębiorstw opartego na przesłankach czysto ekonomicznych. Niniejszy artykuł daje także szerszy obraz ścigania przestępstwa handlu ludźmi pozwalając jednocześnie zrozumieć, dlaczego wiele spraw o handel ludźmi do pracy przymusowej w Holandii nie zakończyło się skazaniem. W oparciu o analizę jakościową wydanych orzeczeń wykazano, że głównym problemem przy skazaniu podejrzanych o pracę przymusową jest to, że stopień naruszenia praw człowieka (wykorzystania) w takich sprawach nie jest na tyle wysoki, a nadużycia na rynku pracy nie na tyle poważne, by można je było zakwalifikować jako przestępstwo handlu ludźmi.

EN

In the Netherlands, labour trafficking was criminalised as human trafficking in 2005. Since then, criminal investigations into labour trafficking have slowly taken off. Building on a content analysis of files and reports from the labour inspectorate, this paper contributes to the currently limited body of knowledge on the nature of labour trafficking. It does so by focussing on scholarly debates about the nature of the crime and its relation to labour migration. Based on the analysis, it is argued that the bulk of labour trafficking should be understood as a by-product of labour migration, and that labour trafficking often arises from the economic opportunistic motives of businesses and only occasionally occurs in criminal environments. In addition, the paper adds to our understanding of the prosecution of human trafficking by analysing why so many labour trafficking cases in the Netherlands have not resulted in a conviction. Building on a qualitative analysis of case law, it is shown that a major problem in getting suspects convicted is that the human rights threshold against which cases of labour trafficking are tested is often not surpassed, as the abuses in the labour market are often deemed not excessive enough to qualify as human trafficking.

Keywords

PL

handel ludźmi do pracy przymusowej; praca dorywcza; handel ludźmi; migracja zarobkowa; wykorzystanie do pracy; praca przymusowa

EN

labour trafficking; precarious work; human trafficking; labour migration; labour exploitation; forced labour

• Publisher: Instytut Nauk Prawnych PAN / Institute of Legal Studies PAN
• Journal: Archiwum Kryminologii
• Year: 2021
• Issue: XLIII/1
• Pages: 143-168

Dates

published

2021

Contributors

author

Masja van Meeteren

• Radboud University/Leiden University

• https://orcid.org/0000000281925966

author

Nikki Heideman

• Utrecht University, BSc in Criminology

• https://orcid.org/000000016404190X

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Identifiers

DOI

10.7420/AK2021.13

Biblioteka Nauki

1375685