The Dutch “onderzoeksraad”, literally translated as “investigation council”, has investigated a fire now known as the “Schipholfire”: in a jailhouse (for very short stays only – people who will be put out of the country; for instance / mostly illegals who are waiting to be, umh, returned to their own country) at Schiphol, a fire killed 11 people and wounded 15 others.
The results of this investigation are disastrous for two ministers: both Minister of Justice Donner and Minister of VROM (Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment) Dekker have resigned.
The Council concluded that both ministries failed in living up to their responsibilities. They did not adhere to the ‘fire security rules’. In other words, the government did not live up to its own rules.
According to the report, far less people would have died if the before mentioned ministries had done what was required of them. The report even states that it is quite possible that nobody would have died in such a situation.
There is, of course, no question about whether or not they should resign: both ministries failed tremendously. The problem is not ‘just’ that 11 people died, but that the government ignored rules, she created herself.
The response after the fire was not good enough either. The one responsible for that is Minister Verdonk (yes, from the Ayaan Hirsi Ali controversy). Terribly enough, she will not resign.
Cross posted at Liberty and Justice
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