Dark side of refugee flow: ‘Human trafficking lurking’ | 1Limburg

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Municipalities in Limburg are alert to human traffickers who target refugee Ukrainian women and children.

This is evident from a tour of L1 along various municipalities.

have other plans
The flow of refugees from Ukraine, where war has been going on for more than a month, has triggered various moving initiatives in Limburg. At the same time, municipalities and organizations hold their breath for the necessary risks.

Also read: Collecting hugs for refugee Ukrainian children

For example, there is a chance that fleeing women and children will fall directly into the arms of men, who have completely different plans. This includes forced prostitution, (labour) exploitation, but also child abuse. Members of Parliament Anne Kuik (CDA) and Mirjam Bikker (CU) have put written questions about this to the Ministry of Justice and Security.

‘Important to be alert’
The first signs of human trafficking have already reached the Coordination Center against Human Trafficking (CoMensha). This is not yet the case at Maastricht, Sittard-Geleen, Kerkrade, Weert, Roermond, Venlo and Venray. “But it is important to be alert, because the situation in Germany is different,” explains a spokesperson for the municipality of Venlo.

Since Germany wants to protect refugees, the police keep an eye on shady figures with other intentions, including at the central station in Berlin. But the fact that the protection is not always feasible is clearly visible in a reception location in Düsseldorf. There, a Ukrainian (18), with the Russian bombs on her retina, was raped by two men.

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Prostitution, Marriage and Abuse
On social media, CoMensha sees examples of men trying to get their act together. They actively look for women for prostitution or want to tie the knot with them. “Human trafficking is lurking,” says CoMensha director Ina Hut. Not only women can be victims, also children.

Pedophiles could abuse the refugee flow to bring Ukrainian children to the Netherlands. “There is a big risk in that. It is a potential scenario that is unfortunately very realistic,” said Hut.

Children traveling alone
According to the UN children’s rights organization Unicef, unaccompanied children are at increased risk of becoming victims of human trafficking and exploitation. UNICEF calls on governments to increase knowledge sharing to identify unaccompanied children more quickly so that they can be reunited with their parents. But as long as not every refugee registers in the Personal Records Database (BRP), family reunification is difficult to implement.

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No reports in Limburg yet
A police spokeswoman said that there are currently no reports of human trafficking or other criminal practices involving refugees in Limburg. “Police and justice are very alert. There are regular consultations about this with chain partners,” says the police spokeswoman.

Prevention tips in three languages
Various aid organizations have produced a flyer on which refugees and aid workers are warned in Ukrainian, English and Dutch. It states, for example, that they should never hand over their ID, that they should take pictures when traveling with someone and that they should always carry cash with them. The poster also explains what to do when coercion and exploitation are suspected.

All Limburg municipalities say they are familiar with the flyer. “It is actively distributed,” say the municipalities of Venray and Roermond. Since this month, the MECC event location in Maastricht has received hundreds of war refugees from Ukraine and the poster is already there. “It is important to pay attention to this in communication,” says a spokesperson for the municipality of Maastricht.

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