Asylum seeker billed thousands for taxi rides to fake hospital visits
A Dutch asylum seeker used government-funded taxis to travel to a hospital where he had no scheduled appointments, costing taxpayers 2,500 euros. Taxi drivers exploited the system by booking phantom rides. An investigation reveals significant misuse and a lack of oversight in medical transport services for asylum seekers.
Repeated taxi rides raised concerns at an asylum center in Limburg. Staff noticed that a resident frequently ordered taxis to a nearby hospital, despite not always having medical appointments. The man had a legitimate medical indication allowing him free transport, but records show that he made at least 24 trips in four months without a scheduled visit.
“The employees booking these rides trust the good faith of the residents,” a COA staff member wrote in an internal email in 2023. “This resident abused that trust. He committed fraud.”
Financial stakes in asylum care are high, but transparency is minimal. In response to a Freedom of Information request, COA initially refused to release documents detailing transport abuses. When the documents were eventually provided, they were heavily redacted. Only after legal action did an unedited version become available, seemingly sent by mistake.
The released emails reveal a system vulnerable to exploitation. A 2023 GZA internal memo acknowledges that their staff lacked the ability to verify whether an asylum seeker actually had a medical appointment. “There is no step in the procedure that checks for a confirmed hospital appointment,” a GZA employee wrote. “Employees can request confirmation, but this is based on intuition rather than a standard protocol.”
The reason behind the unnecessary trips remains unclear. Investigators suspect that the hospital's proximity to a train station may have played a role.
Medical transport for asylum seekers is a costly operation. In 2023 alone, more than 70,000 taxi rides were provided for over 11,000 asylum seekers. While a doctor’s medical indication is required for eligibility, asylum seekers do not pay for the transport themselves. The total cost to the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA)—and ultimately, taxpayers—remains undisclosed, with officials citing “business interests” as the reason for withholding financial details.
COA contracts out medical services to the private company Gezondheidszorg Asielzoekers (GZA). The company operates a hotline, Praktijklijn, where COA staff can request taxis for residents. GZA then arranges transport through two subcontractors, Snel Een Taxi and ZCN Vervoer.
