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Ombudsman slams arrest threat for helping Ter Apel refugees

Government agencies acted “improperly and inappropriately” during the crisis at the asylum registration center in Ter Apel in the summer of 2022. The government took aid goods offered away from asylum seekers and citizens who offered assistance were threatened with arrest. The National Ombudsman condemned the government authorities’ actions in a new report titled “Forbidden to provide assistance?”

The National Ombudsman has launched an investigation into how the government handles its terrorism watchlist. According to Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen, citizens often don’t realize they’re on the list, only finding out when they can’t enter a holiday destination or get arrested abroad.

The Dutch government is essentially forcing certain groups of people to structurally commit fraud, the National Ombudsman, Reinier van Zutphen, said in a report published on Tuesday. It involves professional administrators, legal representatives, and informal caregivers who have to digitally do business with the government, a health insurer, or the bank on someone else’s behalf, Trouw reports.

The government hardly learns from the experiences gained from major recovery operations, such as those for the benefits scandal and the earthquake damage in Groningen. When setting up a recovery process, it continually reinvents the wheel. The government also doesn’t pay sufficient attention to what victims actually need, concluded National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen after studying 10 recovery operations.