Abuse and starvation: alarm sounded in care of child refugees
In de media
Abuse is widespread in the foster care of unaccompanied child refugees, according to an investigation by ‘Zembla’. Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law, gave her shocked reaction to BNN VARA: ‘We must get these children to safety.’
The investigation carried out by Dutch current affairs programme Zembla shows that abuse in the foster care of unaccompanied child refugees occurs frequently. Youngsters are abused, starved, suddenly turned out in the streets or forced to do compulsory work. When signs of abuse are raised, an adequate response is often not possible due to capacity issues. Youth protection workers and (former) staff of Nidos, the national guardianship organisation for unaccompanied minors, complain of a high workload and are sounding the alarm.
It emerged from interviews with these workers that foster families are not properly screened. Youth protection workers are often unable to check how the children in foster care are doing because they are responsible for dozens of children. Bruning was shocked by the Zembla’s investigation: ‘This is extremely disturbing.’ According to the professor, the children's safety is the top priority: ‘If there are signs that these children, for whatever reason, are not safe then we must get them to safety.’
More information?
Watch the Zembla broadcast
Read the full BNN VARA article
Read the full NOS article
Read the full NU.nl article
Read the full Trouw article
(All in Dutch)