Dutch government resigns over child welfare fraud scandal

Dutch government resigns over child welfare fraud scandal

By Naveel Krishant
17/01/2021
Rutte has been in power since 2010.

The Dutch government has resigned amid a scandal that saw thousands of families wrongly accused of child welfare fraud.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced the Cabinet's resignation saying that responsibility for the scandal "ultimately rests with the incumbent Cabinet and nowhere else."

Under the scandal, around 10,000 families in the Netherlands were told to repay tens of thousands of euros of subsidies after being wrongly accused of child welfare fraud.

Rutte made his speech in the aftermath of the publication of a report by the Parliamentary Interrogation Committee on Childcare Allowance, which he called "very tough, but fair."

The Dutch premier was clear that financial compensation for the affected parents is the first thing that needs to be properly arranged.

Elections for a new government will take place in mid-March.

Parents were branded fraudsters over minor errors such as missing signatures on paperwork, and erroneously forced to pay back tens of thousands of euros given by the government to offset the cost of childcare, with no means of redress. They were, as one junior minister who resigned in connection with the scandal put it, "steamrolled" by the system.

Families were left in a state of ruin, by a state apparatus that became the enemy of the people.

[Source: BBC / CNN]

FEATURE NEWS
It’s not a panic budget, the panic is from the Opposition – Prof. Prasad
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad says this is not a ‘panic budget’, as described by the Leader of the Opposit...
18 minutes ago
LATEST NEWS
Tabuya says 2025/2026 National Budget pays attention to details and hears the war cry against poverty
The 2025/2026 National Budget is a budget that pays attention to details, taking simple yet meaningful changes, and hears the war cry of Prime ...
55 minutes ago

I could not hold back my tears, Sayed-Khaiyum needs urgent specialist treatment - Lal
Opposition MP, Ketan Lal says he could not hold back his tears when he visited former Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum at Lautoka Aspen Hospital ...
1 hour ago

VAT cut is not a cure – Koya
Opposition MP Faiyaz Koya says the VAT cut is not a cure but it is a band-aid solution to the cost of living problem. While opposing the 2025-2026 ...
2 hours ago

Vosarogo says no budget is perfect and the last 16 years were a disastrous starting point
We can all agree that no budget is perfect — just as nothing in life or this world truly is. Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, Filimoni ...
2 hours ago

652 people displaced by fires in the first half of this year – NFA
The number of people displaced by property fires in the first half of this year has increased to 652 compared to 566 in the same period last year, ...
4 hours ago



fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan
Latest Videos

Stay tuned for the latest news on our radio stations

CFL radio frequencies
IN DEPTH
Professor Prasad on fijivillage Straight Talk With Vijay Narayan
The show will focus on the 2025/2026 National Budget.
7 days ago

Tui Nayau and Tui Lau Installation
The ceremony for the installation of the Tui Nayau Sau ni Vanua o Lau will be held tomorrow, while the installation ceremony of the Tui Lau will be held in Tubou on Thursday.
9 days ago

CFL 40th Birthday
CFL’s 40th Anniversary celebrations to culminate with free concert at Albert Park on ...
12 days ago

TOP