More reports of labour exploitation, criminal justice response lags behind
The rapporteur calls for better protection, while investigative agencies point to other forms of enforcement.
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The number of reported potential victims of labour exploitation rose in 2025 from 356 to 401. This emerges from annual figures published on Friday by the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings, who is concerned about the limited number of cases reaching the criminal courts.
The increase is approximately 13 per cent and is particularly notable in hospitality and agriculture. The National Rapporteur describes reports in hospitality more than doubling and those in agriculture and horticulture almost tripling. The new figures cover 2025 but were released on 16 October 2026. This is therefore a new publication covering an earlier reporting year. [National Rapporteur](https://www.nationaalrapporteur.nl/documenten/2026/10/16/jaarcijfers-mensenhandel-2025)
The figures measure what comes to organisations' attention. They do not prove that the overall scale of labour exploitation has increased by the same percentage. The report explicitly states that potential victims are also counted and that human trafficking often remains hidden. Recording, identification and data sharing partly determine how much of the problem is visible. Unreported situations are excluded from this count. [Annual Human Trafficking Figures 2025](https://www.nationaalrapporteur.nl/site/binaries/site-content/collections/documents/2026/10/16/jaarcijfers-mensenhandel-2025/jaarcijfers-mensenhandel-2025-nationaal-rapporteur-mensenhandel.pdf)
Across all forms of human trafficking, 952 potential victims were registered with the coordination centre CoMensha last year, compared with 944 in 2024. Anonymous reports were also received that could not be registered as separate individuals. These categories cannot simply be added together: insufficient identifying information makes it difficult to determine whether different reports concern the same person. The report thus warns against an overly simplistic reading of the totals.
According to the rapporteur, the Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie) received 308 indications of human trafficking in 2025. Following assessment, 128 of these were registered as reports. The authority launched 57 criminal investigations and referred ten cases to the Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie, OM). Nine suspects stood trial for labour exploitation that year. Indications, investigations, cases and suspects are different units; the figures cannot readily be used to infer the likelihood of a conviction. [National Rapporteur](https://www.nationaalrapporteur.nl/documenten/2026/10/16/jaarcijfers-mensenhandel-2025)
Speaking to NOS, the OM and the Labour Authority dispute that these criminal justice figures reflect the full extent of their efforts. They say investigating labour exploitation is complex and requires careful gathering and presentation of evidence. Sometimes a case file provides insufficient grounds for that specific suspicion, but action can still be taken against other criminal offences or breaches of administrative law. Such outcomes do not automatically fall within the criminal cases described by the rapporteur. [NOS](https://nos.nl/artikel/2635154-meer-meldingen-van-arbeidsuitbuiting-en-te-weinig-daders-gestraft-zegt-rapporteur)
Rapporteur Conny Rijken considers this broader enforcement insufficient. She points out that a fine for breaching wage rules does not automatically lead to recognition and protection as a victim of human trafficking. The debate therefore concerns both action against employers and the position of workers. The figures give grounds for examining both, but do not in themselves establish which individual cases should have been handled differently. Nor do they support a judgement on individual employers. [NOS](https://nos.nl/artikel/2635154-meer-meldingen-van-arbeidsuitbuiting-en-te-weinig-daders-gestraft-zegt-rapporteur)
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One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The rapporteur published new registration figures for 2025.
- Alongside prosecution for labour exploitation, investigative agencies also use other enforcement routes.
Left
Arguments This approach emphasises workers' dependence and seeks to strengthen protection, inspection capacity and access to legal aid.
Values Human dignity, economic security and equality in employment relations.
Consequences Without effective protection, victims may remain out of sight and a fine imposed on an employer may do too little to change things.
Centre
Arguments This approach calls for a combined assessment of criminal law, administrative law and victim support, with comparable figures on outcomes.
Values Due care, practical feasibility and cooperation between institutions.
Consequences A broader approach can enable faster intervention, but must make clear whether workers are actually being helped.
Right
Arguments This approach emphasises firm punishment for demonstrable exploitation and protection for business owners who comply with the rules.
Values Legal certainty, personal responsibility and fair competition.
Consequences Targeted enforcement must tackle unscrupulous employers without automatically equating suspicion with proven guilt.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved with corrections · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The new annual figures and the responses from the investigative agencies support the article. An overly categorical conclusion about the actual scale has been replaced by the measured change in registrations.
- confirmed The report was published on 16 October 2026 and counts 401 reported potential victims of labour exploitation in 2025, compared with 356 in 2024. — Publication page and report; an increase of approximately 13 per cent. source
- confirmed CoMensha registered a total of 952 potential victims, compared with 944 a year earlier; anonymous reports cannot simply be added to these figures. — The report explains the registration process and possible double counting. source
- confirmed The authority received 308 indications, registered 128 reports, launched 57 investigations and referred ten cases; nine suspects stood trial. — The figures appear on the publication page and use different counting units. source
- confirmed The OM and the Labour Authority point to other enforcement routes; Rijken emphasises the protection of victims. — An account of their respective responses to NOS. source
1 correction(s) applied
- Was: Labour exploitation has increased by 13 per cent.Now: The number of reported potential victims of labour exploitation rose by approximately 13 per cent. (Registration figures do not directly measure the full scale of the offence.)
Editor's note
The publication date and key figures have been checked against the report. The count covers reported potential victims; responses from the OM and the Labour Authority are relayed via NOS.Sources
More on this in Dutch media
- AD — „arbeidsuitbuiting mensenhandel”
- de Volkskrant — „arbeidsuitbuiting mensenhandel”
- RTL Nieuws — „arbeidsuitbuiting mensenhandel”