Allowances scandal calls for national Moral Consultation
Spiritual counselor Susanna Kamminga: “It shouldn't stay silent”
Where in the report Unprecedented injustice was investigated what happened during the Childcare Benefits affair, the recent report shows Blind to people and justice see how this scandal happened. As a spiritual counselor, Susanna Kamminga attended peer nights for and by affected parents for three years. She also visited people at home to listen to their personal stories. “I am deeply shocked and affected by the suffering that has been done to these people.” She calls for a national Moral Council and also for adequate trauma treatment facilities.
April 3, 2024
The confrontation with human suffering and trauma has been a reason for me to read eighteen pages of the 584-page report every day since it was published on February 26. I also posted what I had read on LinkedIn every day: a few quotes, a paraphrase and sometimes a critical question or remark. On Good Friday 2024, I read the last pages and posted my last message about this report on LinkedIn promising to let the report sink in and put my thoughts on it on paper. After that, it became quiet.
But it shouldn't stay quiet. This report should not have the last word. There are at least two topics that call for a sequel. I want to share these two topics with you. It is a call to us as a society and society. The traumas that have been beaten call for a thorough fabric of trauma processing around these people
Tweet thisFirst of all, I want to focus on providing financial compensation to affected parents and affected children. It is extremely right that hard work is being done to secure financial compensation. That is slow and that comes with snags. Both reports provide clear reasons to work hard as a government to get financial compensation. However, financial satisfaction is a first step. For some affected parents and children, this may be enough. If this is not enough for affected parents and affected children, I can imagine anything about that. I therefore call on the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport to actively contribute to a thorough fabric of trauma processing for affected parents and affected children. You may be able to review the entire healthcare system right away, so that other scandals and crimes in our health care system are also adequately stopped.
Secondly, I would like to focus on the legal association that, in my opinion, is included in the report. Blind to people and justice has crept. The research proposal for this report states that there should be a sounding board group including representatives from various disciplines. Ultimately, there are almost only lawyers in the sounding board group. In addition, the main question of this report about how this scandal happened is mainly investigated in a legal way. For example, the legislator has not performed its duties well enough, the executive has implemented the laws too strictly and the judiciary has been too compliant. In itself, logical steps have been taken through both reports. For example, it is logical to first look at what happened and then look at what laws were broken or, in this case, were not properly enforced. The conclusion I had to make when I wrote the report is very painful. Blind to people and justice read that the law did not have to be enforced so strictly. That there was room in the law for the human touch and that therefore this whole affair, this scandal, did not have to happen.
What are the values behind the failed conduct of the legislative, executive and judicial branches?Tweet this
The latter raises the question what values are behind the behavior in order to apply the laws so strictly. What are the values behind the failed behavior of the legislature? What are the values behind the executive's failed behavior? What are the values behind the failure of the judiciary? In fact, what values lie behind our behavior as a society and society so as not to stand beside our family members, neighbors and friends? If you think about the values behind certain behavior, you end up at a Moral Council. A moral deliberation is a meeting where different disciplines are invited to discuss a complicated situation. In particular, the values that play a role and can determine our behavior are reviewed. I therefore specifically call on the government and parliament to actively organize a national Moral Assembly, involving the greatest possible diversity of disciplines. I am thinking of spiritual carers for whom moral deliberation was part of the core business. This includes psychologists, sociologists and whatever discipline. But certainly not just lawyers. What should not be forgotten in this national Moral Council are the duped parents and affected children themselves. If they want and are able to do so, and with support and assistance if necessary, they should always be able to attend such a Moral Assembly. Because it's about these people. It's about people. Let's never forget that.
Susanna Kamminga
Lawyer and spiritual counselor
Susanna Kamminga is a lawyer and spiritual counselor. She worked at the Public Prosecutor's Office from 2004 to 2010. From 2010 to...
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