Unaccompanied child asylum seekers mistreated in guardian families
Unaccompanied child asylum seekers are often neglected, starved, and otherwise mistreated in the foster families where the guardianship agency Nidos placed them, child protection workers and current and former Nidos employees told Zembla. “There are families where scabies is rampant and where a Dutch child would never be placed,” one source told the investigative program.
Zembla spoke to dozens of sources working in and around the shelter of unaccompanied child asylum seekers, including child protection workers, Nidos employees, residential supervisors, and teachers. Nidos calls the foster families involved “cultural families” because they have the same origin or background as the children placed with them. At the start of this year, 3,300 children were staying with such a foster family.
“I have experienced that young people have to work in the house or the company of the foster parents. Hours on end. Without rest,” one source said. “Or they get little to eat.” Signals of abuse or neglect are often ignored because there is a shortage of foster families willing to take in unaccompanied child asylum seekers. “The decision is often made: stay, there is no alternative,” a source said.
Nidos’s conditions state that children cannot be placed in families with obvious problems - for example, if the house is dirty or unhygienic, the family is poorly integrated, or the foster parents don’t have enough time. However, according to Zembla’s sources, Nidos is not adhering to its own rules. “I dare say that at least half of the families do not meet the requirements,” one said. Other sources made similar statements.
The youth protection workers Zembla spoke to also criticized Nidos’s screening process for foster families. “Often, they only check whether there is enough space in the home,” one source said. Children are often placed in families about which there have already been internal warnings. According to the sources, Nidos justifies concerns by referring to the foster parents’ backgrounds. “For example, that they punish in a different way. Within the cultural context, that is the norm. And we are not allowed to be critical of that.”
Experts are shocked. “I find this very worrying,” Marielle Bruning, a professor of juvenile law, told the program. “If there are signs of an unsafe situation for whatever reason, we must ensure that we bring those children to safety.”
Emeritus professor of pedagogy Micha de Winter sees similarities with the children he raised in a committee report about violence and sexual abuse in youth care and foster care in 2019. “Poor selection of families, poor supervision, insufficient guidance,” De Winter told Zembla. “There is a blind spot here. I think these signals are every reason to conduct a thorough investigation now. If they discover abuses, independent research must be conducted into this again.
The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate is responsible for monitoring the quality of care provided by Nidos. Asked for a response, the Inspectorate told Zembla that it recently started an investigation into Nidos after receiving signals from several sources in recent weeks about the safety of children.
Nidos didn’t answer Zembla’s written questions but did acknowledge that the quality of its work has come under pressure, partly due to a significant increase in children under its guardianship. The agency has, therefore, temporarily lowered the requirements for the supervision of children. Nidos also acknowledged that foster families have also been under pressure and that it has happened that children ended up in unsuitable families. “But safety always comes first,” Nidos said.
