Netherlands must do more against "structural" racism in gov't services: State Committee

The Dutch government must do more to combat racism and discrimination in public services, the State Commission against Discrimination and Racism said in its second advice to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament. “Discrimination is not an incident, but a structural problem within the government,” concluded the State Commission, established after the benefits scandal at parliament’s request, NOS reports.

The State Commission pointed out the impact of politicians’ and ministers’ behavior. “When politicians and ministers make implicitly or explicitly discriminatory statements about groups in Dutch society, this contributes to the image that it is justified to treat people unequally,” it said. “Discriminatory government action undermines the rule of law and has harmful consequences for individuals and society.”

The State Commission believes that the government has not done enough to combat discrimination and racism in government services, despite the fact that discrimination and racism violate the Dutch constitution. “At the moment, action is mainly reactive because many government organizations have insufficient control and insight into the effects of their actions.”

Discrimination and racism by the government also cost society a lot of money, the State Commission pointed out. The recovery operation of the benefits scandal already stands at 9 billion euros. Last year, the government also had to set aside 61 million euros to compensate students who were discriminated against by DUO checks on the living-out-of-home grant. The State Commission warns that these large-scale compensation operations will continue to pile up if the government does not drastically adjust its actions.

The State Commission made three recommendations to improve the government’s approach against discrimination. First, the government should introduce a discrimination test to determine which decisions and procedures may turn out to be discriminatory.

It also urged the central government, and the Minister of Home Affairs in particular, to draw up a plan to tackle discrimination in the public services in the long term.

Finally, the State Commission stressed that parliamentarians and ministers must set a good example by taking discrimination seriously when making laws and policies. It suggested rewarding civil servants who warn that certain policies may encourage discrimination instead of ignoring them.

The Tweede Kamer will debate discrimination by the government on January 29.