VZCZCXRO7766
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTC #0586/01 0871337
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281337Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8678
INFO RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 000586 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, EUR/PGI, EUR/UBI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG ASEC KFRD PREF NL
SUBJECT: EXTENSIVE NETWORK PROVIDES SERVICES TO VICTIMS OF 
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary.  Rescued trafficking in persons (TIP) victims are 
supported by an extensive network of service organizations which 
provide legal, social, health, and education services.  Public 
health organizations participate in anti-TIP outreach activities and 
provide health care for at-risk women.  In the past two years, the 
Dutch government has increased funding for TIP victim assistance 
programs, as well as public information campaigns to expand 
awareness of TIP and services available for victims.  Coordination 
between national and local agencies involved in TIP victim 
protection has also improved as a result of more formalized 
agreements between caregiver organizations and the government. End 
Summary 
 
¶2.  (U) Care and assistance for TIP victims in the Netherlands is 
provided by a network of local and national government entities and 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) funded primarily by the 
government.  Global intern obtained detailed information on services 
provided to TIP victims during meetings with representatives of 
three shelters -- Asja, a shelter for underage TIP victims in 
Leeuwarden; De Roggeveen, a battered women's shelter in Amsterdam; 
and Stichting Hulpverlening en Opvang Prostituees (SHOP), an NGO in 
The Hague with a shelter for TIP victims -- and two municipal 
government healthcare services -- SOAIDS Den Haag, a 
government-funded Sexually Transmitted Infections/AIDS organization; 
and GGD Amsterdam, the municipal health service organization.  Each 
of the organizations is part of a service network, and coordinates 
frequently with other community TIP stakeholders.  The shelters also 
coordinate with The Foundation against Trafficking in Women (STV) 
which registers all TIP victims in the Netherlands.  In The Hague, 
coordination between service providers was formalized in a written 
TIP protocol in November 2006.  An evaluation of the implementation 
of the protocol will begin at the end of March. 
 
Shelters Offer Many Services 
 
¶3.  (U) All three shelters offer TIP victims extensive assistance 
with legal matters, especially with applications for B-9 visas to 
obtain temporary residency in the Netherlands.  Shelter staff 
members encourage, but do not require, victims to make official 
reports to the police and accompany them to their meetings when they 
choose to do so.  Staff members also assist victims complete 
applications for financial assistance and health insurance. 
Additionally, the shelters work with the Institute of Migration 
(IOM) to help repatriate victims who choose to return to their home 
countries.  Some TIP victims are referred to the shelters by the 
police or by STV, while others are walk-ins; the shelters report to 
STV those victims who were not previously registered. 
 
¶4.  (U) The shelters also provide extensive social support to TIP 
victims, including comprehensive case management.   Victims may take 
Dutch language courses arranged by the shelters, as well as other 
educational and life skills courses.  Services such as childcare, 
job training, and social activities are provided or facilitated by 
the shelters.   Several of the organizations also conduct outreach 
activities in local schools to prevent domestic trafficking and 
among prostitutes to educate potential victims about available 
services. 
 
¶5.  (U)  As part of the registration and assistance process, TIP 
victims are provided government health insurance which allows them 
to access regular health services in The Netherlands.  Additionally, 
health services are available in both the shelters and government 
clinics.  TIP victims can receive psychological and physical exams 
upon intake at a care center.  Municipal government health services 
in Amsterdam and The Hague (GGD and SOAIDS) offer free and anonymous 
examinations to the general public, prostitutes, and TIP victims. 
GGD additionally conducts outreach education and on-site health 
services in the Amsterdam Red Light district.  According to GGD, 
this targeted service is especially effective for the identification 
of potential victims, many of whom would be reluctant to contact a 
TIP victim service provider directly.  SOAIDS Den Haag conducts 
regular hygiene inspections of the registered brothels in The Hague. 
 According to SOAIDS, hygienic conditions for prostitutes have 
drastically improved since the legalization of brothels in 2000. 
 
¶6.  (U) The Amsterdam municipal government is spearheading the 
establishment of a new center to assist prostitutes and TIP victims. 
 Scheduled to open in July 2007, the center, known as the HAG (Help, 
Advice, and Healthcare), will combine social services and health 
care in one center for both legal and illegal prostitutes, including 
TIP victims, and will finance 100 new shelter spots for victims. 
The center will provide a health clinic, language classes, outreach 
activities, cultural mediation services, and other social activities 
under one roof.  This central coordination is mirrored at the De 
Roggeveen shelter, where beginning in July the Amsterdam police will 
maintain regular hours to encourage and assist TIP victims to report 
and press charges against trafficker.  Other social service 
 
THE HAGUE 00000586  002 OF 002 
 
 
providers will also have regular hours at the shelter to coordinate 
activities for TIP victims; shelter capacity for TIP victims will 
double. 
 
Overcoming Barriers 
 
¶7. (U) The caregiver organizations interviewed reported that the 
Dutch system for helping TIP victims works well, but that further 
improvements were nevertheless possible.  Asja expressed a desire 
for more government officials to spend time with the victims 
themselves, to better understand the issues they face.  SHOP in The 
Hague and De Roggeveen in Amsterdam expressed a desire for a 
mechanism to permit victims to stay in the Netherlands when their 
B-9 visas expire.  Others cited the new humanitarian permanent 
residence regulations as an improvement over the previous system. 
(Note: In early 2007, the GONL implemented new regulations, 
effective retroactively to August 2006, which make it easier for TIP 
victims to obtain legal permanent residency status on humanitarian 
grounds at the conclusion of the legal process against a victim's 
trafficker.  End Note) 
 
¶8.  (U) Several organizations noted recent improvements in local and 
national government efforts to help TIP victims.   The NGOs all said 
that TIP was high on the Justice Ministry's priority list, and that 
all levels of government were working to combat TIP, including by 
working to increase awareness of TIP.  They also noted that 
government funding for police, health care, and NGO shelters had 
increased substantially in recent years. 
 
¶9. Comment. The extensive network of care organizations, and their 
close and increasingly formalized cooperation with the government, 
demonstrates the Dutch commitment to TIP victim assistance.  End 
Comment. 
 
Blakeman