PHILIPSBURG:--- Human trafficking and human smuggling are serious crimes of a global nature. Among other things, numerous international conventions have been entered into to prevent and combat this. The subject of a prostitution policy and its enforcement is also linked to this, for example through the form of sexual exploitation.
The Law Enforcement Council (the Council) has published another report today on its inspection into the follow-up of previous recommendations on the approach to human trafficking and human smuggling and the prostitution policy and its enforcement. This report concerns Sint Maarten. Based on this inspection, the Council concludes that the approach to human trafficking and human smuggling is (still) inadequate. The Council also concludes that insubstantial progress has been made in the area of updating the prostitution policy and its enforcement.
Follow-up inspection
Earlier in 2019, the Council published a report on the approach to human trafficking and human smuggling, in which it made nine recommendations to the Minister of Justice. In 2016, the Council published a report on the prostitution policy and its enforcement, in which it made six recommendations to the Minister of Justice. In 2023, the Minister of Justice requested that the Council conduct a follow-up inspection into the state of affairs regarding the follow-up to the aforementioned recommendations. In 2023, the Council reviewed the state of affairs in the follow-up to a total of fifteen recommendations.
Results
According to the Council, the results of the follow-up inspection show the importance of urgently (re)prioritizing the integrated approach to human trafficking and human smuggling. Furthermore, according to the reports of the U.S. Department of State, Sint Maarten has not met the minimum standards on this subject for three consecutive years and is not making any significant efforts to do so (Tier 3 status). The Council also notes that no substantial progress has been made in updating and enforcing the prostitution policy for the past seven years. Based on these findings, the Council stresses the urgent need for action.
Prioritizing an integrated approach
It is now up to the minister(s) involved to prioritize the integrated approach to human trafficking and human smuggling, to take the necessary decisions and to facilitate those involved as much as possible in the joint fight against this. This includes the subject of the prostitution policy and its enforcement.
Prosecution, Protection, Prevention and Partnership
The approach to human trafficking and smuggling is based on four main pillars, namely: 'Prosecution’, ‘Protection’, ‘Prevention' and 'Partnership'. These 4Ps form a framework for an effective integrated approach using barrier models. The research shows that there is some development in the field of 'Partnership', but that there is still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to the other three pillars.
Recommendations
In view of the current state of affairs, the Council has formulated two new recommendations in the report now published with regard to elements in the approach to human trafficking and human smuggling. In addition, the Council urgently recommends that the Minister give priority to the implementation of the recommendations that have not yet been followed.
The full inspection report and all other publications of the Council are available digitally in Dutch and English on the website: www.raadrechtshandhaving.com.