The Ministry of Justice National Reporting Bureau on Human Trafficking says a recent seminar organized by the Israeli Agency for International Development Cooperation, in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation Europe, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the International Organization for Migration, revealed that the crime of human trafficking is rarely recognized and when it is – this usually pertains only to situations in which extreme violence has been used.
Very often, while victims are coerced by taking advantage of their personal vulnerability, including by threatening to report their immigration status which would result in deportation, traffickers still go unpunished, according to contributors to the seminar.
Keynote speaker Dr. G. Giammarinaro said when an emerging crime threatens the whole society, the jurisprudence should avoid a conservative approach, and that it was time to be innovative in the interpretation of new legal provisions and apply severe penalties allowing confiscation of the proceeds of crime.
Trafficking in human beings is a crime under international and national laws.
Sint Maarten’s National Reporting Bureau on Human Trafficking has brochures in a number of languages, English, Spanish and Dutch. If you know somebody who is being exploited, ask for help by contacting the number below or sending an email.
Victims of exploitation, or those who would like information can contact the following telephone number (+721) 543-0355 from Monday to Friday 8.00am to 5.00pm, or email na*******@gm***.com to provide confidential information about human exploitation.
Sint Maarten will be observing Human Trafficking Day within the Kingdom of the Netherlands this Friday, October 18.
This is in connection with a Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by the Ministers of Justice of the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten in June 2011 to intensify cooperation and making it a priority to fight together within the Kingdom against human trafficking and smuggling.