Rise in labour exploitation reports contrasts with dwindling prosecutions in the Netherlands
Reports of labour exploitation in Dutch hospitality and agriculture have surged, while criminal cases against abusive employers have fallen to a five-year low.
According to the 2025 human-trafficking report, complaints of labour exploitation in the Dutch hospitality sector have doubled and nearly tripled in the horticultural sector, pushing total reports above four hundred. Despite this rise, the Public Prosecution Service brought fewer than twenty cases forward, and only nine defendants appeared before a court, the lowest figure in half a decade. Authorities explain the gap by pointing to strict legal definitions and the difficulty of gathering sufficient proof.
Victims, often non-EU migrants, are reluctant to file charges and may lack corroborating evidence. The labour inspectorate argues that it also pursues non-criminal sanctions, such as wage and immigration law enforcement. A recently passed Senate law introduces the offence of “serious disadvantage” to lower the threshold for criminal action against milder exploitation, though its definition remains vague.
Why it matters
The gap between rising exploitation reports and few prosecutions highlights weaknesses in Dutch labour-rights enforcement.
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