Minister refuses inquiry into abuse at youth home in Spain

Long-term care minister Mirjan Sterk has refused to launch an independent investigation into a Dutch youth care scheme in which children are sent abroad, despite revelations about exploitation and harsh treatment.

An investigation by news programme Nieuwsuur found that the “family home” in the Valencia region, which has been running for over 20 years, subjected children living there to cruel physical and psychological punishments.

Sending troubled teenagers abroad is a long-standing practice in Dutch youth care, meant to remove them from difficult environments in the Netherlands. Huize Soria alone received tens of millions of euros in taxpayers’ money over 20 years, according to the investigation.

Reporters found that the Dutch owners of Huize Soria, the Valencia institution, were forcing children their to work long hours. When they misbehaved, they were deprived of food, sleep and access to a toilet.

Some were made to stand stress positions for long periods, others said. Contact with relatives in the Netherlands was restricted, sometimes for months at a time.

Experts described the conditions as “torture”. Huize Soria was ordered to close down in September after evidence of abuse was first uncovered.

Sterk, from the centrist Christian Democrat CDA, has urged youth care organisations to stop placing Dutch children abroad where possible said there was no need for her to order an investigation.

In a letter to parliament, she said it was up to local councils, child protection agencies and care providers who placed the children to make sure the home met the rules.

She also said she did not know which organisations had sent children to Huize Soria, apart from one child protection agency, because there is no central record.

MPs from across the political spectrum said that was exactly why an investigation was needed. Far-right JA21 MP Ingrid Coenradie said refusing one was “running away from your responsibilities”.