International

There were years of actions by the SP together with parents from the benefits scandal and debates by Renske Leijten and other SP members in the Lower House. And now, finally, a parliamentary inquiry into the government's fraud policy has started. The inquiry committee began their public hearings this week. The first interviews were held with parents that were harmed in the benefits scandal: Dulce Goncalves-Tavaresen and Gerda and Jurgen Deceuninck.

The parents told of how they were crushed by the government. About the confiscation and the way the Tax Administration declared they were fraudsters without pardon. How their children were placed out of home and the irreparable damage to them and the children. They shared their unspeakable sufferings with the committee.

On the second day, outgoing Prime Minister Rutte was questioned about his time as State Secretary between 2002 and 2004. In these years he pushed for stricter enforcement and to select people on characteristics rather than actual signs of fraud. In 2007, the court ruled that this policy was discrimination. Rutte will later be questioned about his role as prime minister in the benefits scandal.