Around ten thousand (former) students have received a letter from student finance agency DUO: they will be reimbursed for unjustly imposed fines and the revoked basic grant. But it may take some time.
DUO admitted last year, following an investigation by news agency HOP, Investico, NOSop3, and newspaper Trouw, that it had ‘indirectly discriminated’ for years while checking for fraud related to the basic grant for students living away from home.
DUO disproportionately targeted students with a migration background, and the checks themselves were dubious: in some cases, students had to pay fines and repay their grant based on brief conversations with their neighbours.
Apologies
The previous cabinet issued an apology, and the current cabinet has decided to refund everything: both the fines and the reclaimed grants. This involves a total of 61 million euros – 47 million euros to compensate the victims, and 14 million euros to carry out the recovery process.
Last week and today, DUO sent letters to the affected students. The entire operation may “take several years,” according to the letter. DUO is “calculating a personalised reimbursement amount for each affected (former) student.”
Some former students will be helped soon, while others will have to wait. It is still unclear how DUO will determine the order. “The process is currently being set up,” a spokesperson said.
Feedback
DUO is inviting students to join a ‘feedback panel’ to share their views on the recovery process. The indirect discrimination, however, is not mentioned in the letter. It merely states that the decision in question was unjust. (HOP, NB)
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