Netherlands violating the rights of vulnerable children: KidsRights

The Netherlands violates fundamental children’s rights, the international children’s rights organization KidsRights reported based on worldwide research conducted in collaboration with Erasmus University Rotterdam. According to KidsRights, the Netherlands’ protection of vulnerable children has been poor for years, and the country has now fallen 12 places in the world rankings for child healthcare.

The Netherlands has been “radically falling through the cracks” for years in protecting vulnerable children, violating that fundamental right, KidsRights chairman Marc Dullaert explained. The Netherlands is unable to provide hundreds of thousands of children who live below the poverty line or were removed from their parental homes with a minimum subsistence or good care and protection. “If a child is doing well, the Netherlands is a paradise with good education, but children on the vulnerable side are not adequately cared for,” said Dullaert.

Now, a new vulnerable group of children has been added due to substandard healthcare, the chairman said. According to the children’s rights organization, this is mainly due to the declining vaccination rate but also due to challenges in the field of water quality. The vaccination rate against measles is below 90 percent for the first time in years, which is the World Health Organization’s critical limit to protect the population against the disease, Dullaert explained.

In the overall overview, the Netherlands ranks 19th this year out of the 193 countries surveyed. Last year, it occupied 20th place, a 16-place drop compared to the previous year. It was the first time that the Netherlands fell outside the top ten of the KidsRights Index.

“A country that does not take good care of its vulnerable children has a major problem,” Dullaert said. He believes that the government must prioritize the current and future generations of vulnerable children and young people. “Tackle the problems in youth care and youth protection in the Netherlands, child poverty, and the lack of care for children in asylum seekers’ centers. Also, tackle the threat to the physical and mental health of children and young people,” Dullaert said. He stressed that things like a free breakfast for children from struggling families are treating the symptoms. It is time for a long-term vision, he said.