One and a half times more Rotterdammers affected by the benefits scandal than previously known

One and a half times more Rotterdammers affected by the benefits scandal than previously known

TAGS: Centrum Society Article Fresh ConcreteDecember 8, 2022 17:10Within the municipality of Rotterdam, 9,100 parents may now be victims of the childcare allowance scandal. In addition to the nearly 6,000 parents reported by the municipality so far, more than 3,000 people are now coming. This is evident from a report published by the municipality on Wednesday, which used a new counting method.Rotterdam is the hardest hit municipality in the benefits scandal. And the damage now appears to be even more serious than expected. Of the 9100 possible victims, just over half (4,726 parents) have already been officially recognized as victims. The other 4374 parents are awaiting recognition by the tax authorities. So far, only 3.7 percent of the parents who came forward in Rotterdam have not been recognized as victims. The old — significantly lower — figures that the municipality released so far “were actually no longer correct” and the new number is “the purest number”, says the spokesperson for Councillor for Poverty Reduction Enes Yigit in a response. From now on, Rotterdam also includes victims who have not come forward yet, but are known because they have municipal debts. It is not known which other municipalities use this new counting method. The municipality of Amsterdam, for example, is not doing this yet, a spokesperson explains when asked.More than nineteen thousand RotterdammersIn total, including children and some of the partners, more than 19,000 Rotterdammers have now fallen victim to the benefits scandal. This is evident from a calculation by Vers Beton and OPEN Rotterdam, based on CBS figures about the number of affected children and your own estimate of the number of affected former partners. This means that around three percent of all Rotterdammers are affected by the benefits scandal. This is a conservative estimate, because the new figures do not yet include all victims with their possible partners or former partners either. In addition, CBS only calculates with minor children, while adult children may also have been affected by problems in their families. Due to errors by the tax authorities, these parents had to repay amounts of up to more than 100,000 euros, often without a payment arrangement. Low-income people and single mothers were often the victims, which may have irreparably ruined their lives. Relationships broke down and children were unfairly taken away from their parents. The problems with the victims, their children and (former) partners are “far from over”, reports the Municipality of Rotterdam in a written explanation.Working in a racist wayOf all municipalities, Rotterdam has been by far the hardest hit by the Dutch tax authorities's fraud hunt that got out of hand. This is partly due to the number of Dutch people with a migration background in Rotterdam. The percentage of people with a non-Western origin is the highest in the whole of the Netherlands. After an investigation by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the cabinet acknowledged that tax officials, responsible for detecting fraud, acted racially. As a result, parents with a non-Dutch origin were up to sixteen times more likely to be investigated by a specific fraud team, the College for Human Rights concluded last September. The service also used algorithms that were programmed to mainly select Dutch people with a migration background as possible fraudsters. At the end of 2021, the Council of State, the Supreme Administrative Court, recognized that minor errors in the allowance application were being punished disproportionately harshly. Moreover, in many cases, there was no fraud at all, as it turned out afterwards. The municipality of Rotterdam has so far spoken to more than 6,500 people and has canceled almost seven million euros in debts. However, sixty percent of the parents spoken do not need structural assistance, as can be read further in the progress report that the alderman sent to the council: “A lack of trust in the government plays a role in this”.About this researchVers Beton and OPEN Rotterdam are currently following three Rotterdam families who have become involved in the benefits scandal for a longer period of time and will publish about this in early 2023.March of the MothersIn 2021, OPEN Rotterdam participated in the March of the Mothers. Around 100 to 150 people gathered on November 11, 2021 at 9 a.m. on the Town Hall Square, holding banners and flyers. They walk around the city in a pendulum, with the tax office as their final destination. “No chance for the mothers, no chance for Rutte” the marchers shout, among other things. At the tax office, the victims hand over a manifesto with demands to Secretary of State Alexandera van Huffelen. https://youtu.be/U0s0-YI7kUA Respond