THE HAGUE - Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten are doing too little against the exploitation of foreign sex workers. It is only now known that in 2019 the Kingdom Council of Ministers suspended the countries' authority to grant visas to sex workers. Governments have been told to take measures to better protect this group from exploitation.
The report of an investigation into visa granting in the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom, sent by Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigrid Kaag to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, discusses the issue in detail. This shows that countries have been warned to take appropriate measures since 2016, but did not sufficiently complied.
In 2019, the Netherlands apparently had enough and visas for these 'labor migrants' - often victims of human trafficking - were suspended. In the meantime, the countries are working - although it does not seem with great enthusiasm - on better protection against exploitative practices in the local sex industry.