On the last day of the public consultations of the parliamentary investigation into natural gas production in Groningen, safety in Groningen was once again emphasized.

After the political leaders, former ministers and Prime Minister Rutte, the committee went back to the heart of the problem in Groningen, the physical and psychological insecurity of people living in the earthquake area. During the last of the 69 interrogations, special attention was paid to the children in the area.

The children’s ombudswoman, Margerite Kalverboer, said far too little attention was paid to the effects of the earthquakes on children in the earthquake area. Kalverboer took office as child advocate in 2016, four years after the worst earthquake in Huizinge to date.

She herself comes from Groningen and had noticed that children and young people in the affected area were not doing well. Before taking office, the Ombudsman for Children had not really dealt with Groningen.

violated trust

The urgency was not felt there either, said Kalverboer. That changed after personal conversations with children from the area. Studies followed, which made it clear that children in vulnerable families in particular have a hard time. This applies, for example, to families where the parents only take care of the problems with their house due to gas production.

Her concern is that children cannot develop sufficiently because they have too much on their mind. That has consequences for her school, but also for her trust in people, says Kalverboer. “How do you deal with trust when your parents can’t protect you, then that also hurts your trust in adults. Parents fall off a pedestal at a time in their lives when they shouldn’t. It affects how they relate to each other later in life,” she says.

Kalverboer emphasizes that many children no longer want to talk about it. They have the feeling that they are not understood after all, even by their peers with whom they go to school in the city of Groningen. They don’t have the same experiences as the children in the most earthquake-affected areas.

Kalverboer sharply criticized schools in the earthquake area. “There were schools that said we don’t burden the kids with it because they get scared if they get more involved. If they don’t talk about it, then it’s not there,” says Kalverboer. But she doesn’t think that’s the right approach. “Children want information.”

Conclusion

The status of children was an important issue for the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee. MEPs spoke to schoolchildren and students about what struck them about the earthquake problem. The committee visited two elementary schools, one secondary school and one MBO school.

The committee is now retiring and examining all interrogations. Chair Tom van der Lee (GroenLinks) expects to present the conclusions early next year.