On June 9th, 2023, the adaptation of the Aruba Penal Code was signed into law. In the new version of the APC the penalty for migrant smuggling (article 2:154 APC) has been raised from a range of 4 to 15 years imprisonment to a range of 6 to 18 years imprisonment and the specification ‘for the purpose of terrorisme’ was added. The penalty for human trafficking (article 2:239 APC) has been raised from a range of 8 to 18 years imprisonment to a range of 12 to 30 years imprisonment and the specifications ‘begging’ and ‘criminal exploitation’ were added.

The Taskforce on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling initiated this adaptation of the Aruba Penal Code in 2020, when it concluded that the penalties in the APC for human trafficking and migrant smuggling were lower than in other parts of the Kingdom and that certain specifications were missing.