Ethnically diverse officials face daily racism at work in Dutch government

A group of around 50 ethnically diverse civil servants have written to Minister Judith Uitermark of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations asking her to take “structural measures” against the daily “institutional racism, discrimination, and ethnic profiling” they experience while working for the national government, NRC reports.

The letter speaks of “patterns of exclusion” that are reminiscent of the childcare allowance scandal. “This time, it is not the citizens who are the target of distrust and prejudice, but the people who work within the system,” they wrote. “Employees who contribute to the public cause with heart and soul are repeatedly confronted with inequality, distrust, and prejudice. It affects us deeply, but it especially affects the heart of the organization itself.”

“As a civil servant, you are socially isolated or blacklisted if you report discrimination and bullying,” one of the signatories told NRC. They asked to remain anonymous, for fear of reprisals. The signatories work at various Ministries.

Two weeks ago, Uitermark sent a survey to parliament showing that, last year, 10 percent of civil servants had experienced racism in the past year. For civil servants with roots in a country outside Europe, it was 29 percent. This year, the Ministry asked researchers to speak in more detail with 66 ethnically diverse civil servants who had experienced racism in the past three years. They described a wide variety of racism experiences, ranging from isolated incidents and bad jokes to structural exclusion and bullying.

Uitermark said in the letter to parliament that the report presents “a shocking picture” of racism in the government. “First of all, this is incredibly painful for the employees who are affected by it. And it is unacceptable,” the NSC Minister said.

According to the letter writers, the report describes “only the tip of the iceberg.” The real extent of racism is invisible because “many colleagues remain silent for fear of negative consequences, a fear that stifles their voice and protects the system.”

The government seems to have stopped working for an inclusive organization, they write. “Employees of color seem to be systematically targeted by cutbacks and restructuring, Departments are becoming increasingly whiter.”

There is “a ceiling for people of color in the government,” a signatory added to NRC. “There are hardly any managers with a migration background. It is a class society, while the government as an employer should be setting an example.”

Minister Uitermark told the newspaper that she takes the letter very seriously. “It is not for nothing that the government program states that this Cabinet will tackle racism, discrimination, anti-Semitism, and Muslim hatred vigorously.”

In January, the government will open “a counter where every civil servant can make a formal report in a safe manner,” the Minister said. She added that “serious abuses cannot be changed overnight.”