• Curaçao

Daughter of allowance parent looks back on painful flight to Curaçao: 'I blamed my mother for everything'

Photo: Archive: Akyshaina 'Kysha' Acasio

July 15, 2025 | Kim Hendriksen

When six-year-old Akyshaina 'Kysha' Acasio boarded a plane to Curaçao, she had no idea why. She suddenly had to leave everything she knew behind. “I thought it was all my mom's fault. That she had caused us to suddenly leave the Netherlands.” Kysha is now 21. Only in recent years has she begun to understand what her mother went through at the time: as a single mother, wrongly identified as a fraud in the Benefits Affair, and hounded by debts. “She never told me what was really going on. I just thought she made the wrong choices.” “Why am I here?“It's a hot day in Curaçao when Kysha looks back on her childhood. She speaks clearly, sometimes with a smile, but pain shines through her words. “In the Netherlands, I had a nice life. I went to ballet, had great friends and a teacher who I loved. And suddenly everything was gone.” At first, she thought it was a temporary vacation. “We had previously been to Curaçao for a long time. My mother then had to do an internship. So I thought: we'll definitely come back. I didn't want to make friends. Everyone called me “makamba pretu” (“black Dutchman”). I felt alone, weird and unwanted.” Only later did it come to the realization that they would not go back at all.Poverty and ShameThe first period on the island was tough. There was hardly any money. “I begged my mom to go to McDonald's with me. Just to get the smell, because we couldn't afford to eat.” Her mother tried everything she could to find work, but it didn't work. “She fell into a depression. I watched her slide slowly.” Eventually, together with her grandmother, she started a small sales stall selling 'li' (frozen juices) to earn extra money. This would later lay the basis for Kysha's interest in entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, Kysha remained angry with her mother for a long time. “I just didn't get it. I thought: why did you do this? Why did you bring me here?”A difficult start at schoolKysha didn't feel at home at her new school in Curaçao for a long time. She did not speak Papiamentu and got stuck in classes. “I didn't understand the language yet and suddenly couldn't keep up at all.” Only later did it become clear that Kysha had dyslexia — something that was not immediately recognized at school in Curaçao. She wonders how it would have gone if she had stayed in the Netherlands. “Maybe they had seen what was wrong with me there. Maybe I wouldn't have been behind.”

Kysha and her grandma. Photo Archive: Akyshaina 'Kysha' Acasio“Maybe everything would have turned out differently if we had stayed”It wasn't until years later, when she saw a movie about the Allowance Affair herself, that pieces of the puzzle fell into place. “I recognized so much. The stress, the panic. My mom was up. One day, she just left, with me. No plan, just fear.” Although her mother never told her exactly what happened, Kysha now knows that she was labeled a fraud by the Dutch tax authorities. “She got letters, had to pay back. Everything came crashing down.” She still often wonders what her life would have looked like if they had stayed in the Netherlands. “Maybe I would have had more chances.”'I just want a normal life'Kysha is now stronger in life. She completed her MBO and will soon start the higher professional education course in International Business Management at the University of Curaçao. “I want to start my own business. Maybe several, who knows. The past has shaped me, but I want to move forward.” Yet, she still bears the consequences of that period with her every day. The sudden move, the poverty she fell into, her mother's depression and the difficult years at school: these are all experiences that have left their mark. “I know I still have to process that.” What would help her, she says, is contact with others who have experienced the same thing. “I would love to meet young people of my age who, like me, were involved in this affair as a child. Just to talk, to share what we've experienced — maybe with guidance so we can learn to give it a place. Actually, I've always wanted that.”Response Recovery FeesA spokesperson for the Department of Supplements says that the recovery from the benefits affair also pays attention to the children of victims: “Repairing the problems with the childcare allowance is often about parents. But children and young people have also been affected. The child arrangement was created especially for them, intended to provide back support. This consists of a sum of money, broad support and, for example, help for personal development.” According to the service, young people can discuss with their municipality what help is appropriate, for example with education or mental health. For children outside the European Netherlands, such as in Curaçao, support is included in the parent's plan of action. There are currently no peer groups especially for young people, according to the spokesperson. “There are peer groups for parents, not yet for young people (as far as we know).”