Ministry of Justice and Security invested in tackling organized crime, justice and shelter
In 2022, the Ministry of Justice and Security invested heavily in tackling organized crime. This means among other things that more municipalities receive structural money to prevent small boys from becoming big criminals. The number of municipalities participating in the so-called Prevention with Authority Program (Preventie met Gezag) has increased from 15 to 19 for districts and neighborhoods where young people are at greatest risk of being recruited by criminals.
In addition, the system of surveillance and security has been strengthened to protect our guardians of the rule of law, such as judges, police officers, district attorneys, lawyers, journalists and mayors. Moreover, the Dutch government has structurally allocated 155 million euros for the administration of justice to attract, among other things, more judges and other staff. That money is used for shorter lead times and to reduce the workload among judges. The money is also intended for initiatives to bring justice closer to people, such as community justice.
Furthermore, international cooperation at the international level has been stepped up in the fight against organized crime and almost EUR 30 million has been made available for additional measures against drug trafficking through our major logistics hubs, such as the seaport of Rotterdam. After all, international drug crime never sleeps, constantly shifts smuggling routes between seaports and threatens our society and democratic rule of law with intimidation and violence.
Due to the high influx of asylum seekers and developments such as housing shortages in the Netherlands, asylum reception was under great pressure in 2022. In addition, about 90,000 people came to the Netherlands who fled the war in Ukraine. A lot of hard work was done by various parties in order to be able to offer everyone shelter.
Those who ask for our protection, but abuse our hospitality, deserve a tough approach. That is why the Dutch government used an approach of preventing trouble to begin with and a tough approach when trouble does occur. 45 million Euros were allocated for the intensified approach to tackle trouble and to promote the return of asylum seekers who cannot stay here. Migration cooperation was strengthened with countries from and through which asylum seekers arrive in the Netherlands and work was carried out at a European level to strengthen our external borders.
Originally published at https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2023/05/17/ministry-of-justice-and-security-invested-in-tackling-organized-crime-justice-and-shelter
