With the crime rate in the Netherlands consistently decreasing, government officials are left with an enviable problem: not enough inmates to fill their prisons!
A report from the nation's ministry of justice announced that the country will be forced to close five prisons in the near future because they will simply not have enough occupants for the facilities.
The country's prison system is already incredibly under capacity with a third of its current prison cells sitting unoccupied.
In an effort to prevent prison workers from losing the jobs, the country has actually taken to importing prisoners from neighboring countries like Belgium and Norway.
However the practice may likely not be able to keep up with the decreasing crime rate which experts believe is brought upon by an aging population and less violent acts being committed.
They also cite the Netherlands' unique criminal justice system, which attempts to avoid prison time for offenders in favor of more comprehensive efforts towards rehabilitation.
Of course, there are some critics in the Netherlands who say that the government is simply too tough on crime and that is why there are not enough prisoners for the country's jails.
Nonetheless, it appears that unless the senior citizens of the Netherlands start committing some heinous crimes soon, the nation's prisons may soon go out of business.
Source: The Telegraph