Young people who are recruited for criminal activities often do not know what they are saying yes to. This is what national human trafficking officer Maarten Noordzij says. Young people often earn little money for their criminal activities, given the seriousness of the crime they commit. Omroep Brabant submitted five questions to Noordzij about recruiting young people for crime.
How are the young people recruited?
“In practice, this is done through word of mouth, usually with young people who already have criminal connections. Or it is done through social media platforms such as Telegram or Snapchat. Recruitment is often done with an offer to earn a lot of money in a short time. Usually there is no pressure initially, but the offer is too good to be true. It often starts with curiosity or ignorance. They want to get money that easily.”
On the night of March 12 to 13, an attack was committed on the Jewish synagogue in Rotterdam. Six young Tilburg residents and one Amsterdam resident, aged 17 to 23, were arrested for this.
Minister Van Weel of Justice believes that the men were recruited, but the Rotterdam Public Prosecution Service does not want to comment on this because the criminal investigation is still in full swing.
What does it mean for young people if they participate in this?
“In practice, we often see that young people – especially in the group that is recruited via social media – have no idea what they are saying ‘yes’ to. And they are often left in the dark about this until just before the execution. Then it is often difficult to withdraw. In practice, we also often see that young people who have once committed criminal offenses are then blackmailed with this, and are therefore incited to commit criminal offenses again. They, as it were, end up in a web that is difficult for them to escape. And when a job goes wrong, young people often have to pay off a debt.”
What do young people earn from it?
“The amounts that are often mentioned (200 euros, 500 euros, sometimes 1,000 euros) are often a lot of money for young people. It just bears no relation to the risk they run. Think of removing shipping containers from heights, laying explosives or acts of violence. Moreover, they run the risk of being caught, and the clients remain out of harm’s way.”
Is it difficult to get those clients?
“Sometimes yes, sometimes not. In closed social media groups it is often more difficult to track them down. They ensure in various ways that (digital) traces are erased and that they remain out of the picture. The young people are often unwilling to talk for fear of reprisals or fear of prosecution. There are many examples where it is possible to catch the clients and convict them of criminal exploitation. The number of convictions for criminal exploitation has increased considerably in recent years.”
Are young people who have been recruited perpetrators or victims?
“This is assessed on a case-by-case basis. The starting point is that young people are responsible for the criminal offenses that they commit as executor. If this happens under the influence of someone else, for example with coercion, violence, deception, blackmail or abuse of vulnerability, then they are also victims of criminal exploitation for us. And then the non-punishment principle applies, a legal term that means that a criminal offense has been committed but is not punished for it. A penalty reduction may also follow if the offenses were under the influence of the client committed. But that is a matter of customization. We also look at the seriousness of the crimes they committed, the extent to which they resisted the pressure or influence.”
