Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes and CMMA Director Jeanette Baars announced a significant change in the Penal Code in June 2023, leading to a surge in convictions for human trafficking and related offenses.
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.
