The Dutch government has decided to stop providing personal dossiers to parents affected by the allowances scandal, known as the toeslagenaffaire, leaving thousands in uncertainty about their rights to compensation and the clarity of their situations. This decision, announced on March 14, 2025, comes amidst ongoing struggles faced by approximately 40,000 individuals identified as victims in this complicated recovery operation run by the Uitvoeringsorganisatie Herstel Toeslagen (UHT).
As of March 24, 2025, the Belastingdienst (tax service) will officially terminate the issuance of these personal dossiers — a move that raises significant concerns. Many parents have been anxiously awaiting these documents for years, believing they are essential not only for verifying entitlement to compensation but also for understanding their status on various lists that might impact their lives and that of their children.
The abrupt cessation of these dossiers is particularly frustrating for around 5,000 parents who had requested them in hope of gaining transparency regarding their issues with the tax service. Alarmingly, reports suggest that this transition may not be entirely new. Signals from various sources imply that the halt in personal dossier creation may have begun well before the official announcement, with claims that the UHT stopped working on these files over six months ago.
Six anonymous sources affiliated with the UHT confirmed to Radar that the agency has ceased its efforts to compile personal dossiers. "Persoonlijke dossiers doen we niet meer. Dat is meer dan een half jaar geleden gestopt," one source revealed. This lack of transparency means that parents are left without crucial details regarding decisions made about their cases, decisions that profoundly affect their livelihoods.
The frustration was mirrored by lawyers representing about 1,600 toeslagen ouders, who have been waiting years for the delivery of these documents, emphasizing the importance of having access to them in order to blueprint their recovery processes. These attorneys, including Suzanne Arakelyan, Narda Teke-Bozkurt, and Nursel Köse-Albayrak, have expressed deep concern, noting that they have yet to receive any of the promised personal dossiers. Köse-Albayrak highlighted this issue during a hearing with the UHT in early February, fervently asking, "Wanneer worden persoonlijke dossiers niet meer gegeven?" only to receive the disheartening response that personal dossiers are generally not delivered at all.
This ongoing tumult has also elicited responses from government officials. Staatssecretaris Herstel en Toeslagen Sandra Palmen noted that these alarming signals regarding the cessation of personal dossiers can be attributed to a long-standing decision communicated by the government in mid-2022 to prioritize recovery operations over personal dossier creation. Amid the turbulence, Palmen reassured that personal dossiers remain a right for citizens to request, yet stressed the significant changes in how the policy will function moving forward, stating, "Het persoonlijk dossier wordt ooit nog wel geleverd, maar het verdwijnt als onderdeel van de hersteloperatie."
The message from government officials that the personal dossier remains a right but will no longer be prioritized in recovery collections has left many toeslagen ouders feeling trapped in a bureaucratic limbo, unsure about where to turn for answers. The implications of this decision are far-reaching; many parents now face an uphill battle to secure the information they are entitled to and to ensure they receive appropriate compensation for the injustices they have endured.
While the cessation of personal dossiers introduces ambiguities in the recovery landscape, the UHT continues to operate under the promise that transparency will still be afforded where possible. Nevertheless, the trust that once fueled parents' hopes for resolution may now be eroded, as they grapple with the gap between expectations set and reality.
As this complex situation unfolds, toeslagen ouders are left to navigate a system that has shown itself to be both opaque and labyrinthine. Their experience encapsulates a larger narrative of bureaucratic failure and the deep impacts such failures can impose upon individuals striving for redress.
This ongoing saga raises critical questions about the ethics of governmental accountability and the responsibilities owed to those who have suffered financial and emotional distress at the hands of a broken system. As the dust settles on this momentous decision, the future remains uncertain for these parents, who continue to seek answers, justice, and the compensation that many have fought so long to receive.
