News item | 01-07-2022 | 11:39
The government is strengthening its approach to the prevention of juvenile crime. In the coming years, Minister Weerwind for Legal Protection will make extra money available for this, rising to a structural amount of 61 million euros per year. This is in addition to the 82 million euros that Minister Yeşilgöz-Zegerius of Justice and Security previously announced that he would invest annually in neighborhoods where the risks for young people are greatest that they are recruited by (drug) criminals. All in all, from 2025, EUR 143 million per year will be earmarked for measures to prevent children, young people and young adults from coming into contact with or growing into crime.
Young people who commit armed robberies or are involved in stabbing incidents start to go astray at a young age. Drug criminals sometimes recruit young people at a young age to deliver packages or to be on the lookout for something. Despite a decrease in juvenile delinquency, serious crime among certain at-risk youth is increasing in a limited number/certain neighborhoods with high levels of poverty and unemployment. A combination of intimidation, peer pressure and fear in the neighborhood sometimes makes it difficult for young people to hold their own and choose a safe future with a good education and honest work.
“Young people deserve a good future, but not everyone grows up in a safe environment. Criminal temptations lurk there. Together with municipalities and professionals from health care and education, we want to offer young people structure and future prospects. We make them more resilient and thus they stay on the right path. Also during and after detention.”
says Minister Weerwind.
Minister Yeşilgöz-Zegerius:
“The carrying of firearms and involvement in the drug trade are already copied by some young people in neighborhoods. An intensive person-centred approach is needed to stop the intimidating pressure of drug trafficking on young people, their parents, brothers and sisters. This approach is not without obligation. Everything stands or falls with addressing behavior and involving parents. Anyone who does make a mistake must be corrected. Only by setting boundaries and offering perspective will these young people have a chance to turn around and see a life without looking back.”
The basis for this approach is the coalition agreement ‘Looking after each other, looking ahead to the future’. In addition to the previously announced investments by Minister Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, her colleague Weerwind is also strengthening prevention in broad youth crime, the juvenile criminal justice system, aftercare and reintegration after detention. This prevents young people from committing mistakes again and/or from developing into hardened criminals.