By Admin 
Many countries of the world are struggling with crime, terrorism, starvation and economic crisis, but there is one country on this earth where there is almost no trace of crime. It sounds strange, but the Netherlands is actually a country in Europe where prisons remain empty and the government has to face new problems due to shortage of prisoners.
In the Netherlands, crime continued to decline over the past decade and this decline was so rapid that many prisons had to be closed. In the jails which had prisoners till 2013, by 2018 such a time came that in many jails there was not even a single criminal left. According to a report published by Telegraph UK in 2016, the Dutch Ministry of Justice had estimated that crime would decrease by about one percent every year and this estimate turned into reality. The country’s social system, people’s standard of living and reformist thinking towards criminals are considered to be the major contributors behind the reduction in crime.
If the jails become vacant then the government will face new problems
The closure of jails had a direct impact on the jail staff. Out of about two thousand employees, only a few people could be adjusted in other government jobs. The situation became so unique that to keep the prisons running, the Netherlands made an agreement in 2017 to import prisoners from Norway. This was a rare case of its kind in the world, where a country had to face the shortage of prisoners.
Why are there less prisoners? What is special in the Netherlands model?
The Netherlands paid more attention to reforming criminals rather than merely punishing them. The most effective solution for this was the electronic ankle monitor system. It is a small device, which is worn on the ankle and it keeps sending the location of the person to the police. If the person goes beyond any prescribed limit, an immediate warning is received. This technology greatly reduced the chances of repeating the crime. Apart from this, criminals are given facilities for education, training and work so that they can return to normal life. Due to this, crowding in jails does not increase and the society also remains safe.
Today there are less prisoners in the jails of Netherlands, more foreigners
The current situation is that in most of the jails of the country, there are very few prisoners and most of them are those who are serving sentences in cases related to other countries. It has now become very rare for crimes to be registered among the local people. This is the reason why many jails remain more than half empty.
Why the Netherlands model is an example for the world
Netherlands has shown that crime can be eliminated not only by strict laws, but also by social reforms and humanitarian approach. Here the police makes better use of technology, the administration is transparent and citizens get such facilities which automatically reduce the chances of crime.
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