At the end of the year, I often reflect on the people who contact us. Often they received no clear answer from the government to a question or request, and sometimes no response at all. Time and again, they got stuck with the government.
One of them is Erik (not his real name). During a night out, he sees a bouncer on top of a boy at a bar. The boy seems to be struggling to breathe. Erik does not hesitate and intervenes. What feels like a natural and humane reaction to him has serious consequences. Erik is then suspected of assault himself. He then hears nothing from the Public Prosecution Service (OM) for years.
No chance to explain his story
Only after three years does the OM inform that Erik will not be prosecuted. This is called dismissal. Because the OM states that a punishment could have been possible, Erik does receive a criminal record. He rightly disagrees with this. When he files a complaint about this, the OM immediately rejects it. Without giving him the chance to properly explain his story.
Only after our insistence does the OM conclude that Erik indeed unjustly received a criminal record. The OM then corrects this mistake. Although it is good that this eventually happens, I regret that our intervention was necessary for this.
From one door to another
Unfortunately, I draw that conclusion more often. For example, in the case of Edwin (not his real name), who lives in Bonaire. He applies for an AOW pension but does not receive it. When he contacts the Social Insurance Bank (SVB), he is sent from pillar to post. For months he lives in uncertainty about what exactly is going on. It turns out that Edwin did not provide his address correctly when applying. That is why the payment did not go well. Despite those problems, the SVB did have his phone number and could have called him. Fortunately, this was quickly resolved after our intervention, and Edwin still receives his AOW.
Unnecessary stress
Like Erik, Edwin was unnecessarily stressed for a long time. In both cases, the organization could and should have taken action earlier. You can expect the government to listen well to citizens and take action when citizens need help. I hope that government organizations will solve such problems more often themselves next year, in good contact with the citizen. If that does not work, of course we will also be there for you in 2026.
This column also appeared in De Telegraaf on December 28, 2025. The person in the photo is not the person in the text.