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Dutch authorities have been left red-faced after revelations that hundreds of prisoners collect unemployment benefits behind bars despite the law specifically prohibiting the practice. Angry parliamentarians called Social and Labour Minister Wouter Koolmees tPrison unemployment payments leave Dutch red-faced
Dutch authorities have been left red-faced after revelations that hundreds of prisoners collect unemployment benefits behind bars despite the law specifically prohibiting the practice. Angry parliamentarians called Social and Labour Minister Wouter Koolmees to answer questions Thursday following a report by a Dutch TV news programme this week. «It annoys me enormously,» Koolmees told MPs, adding that he would investigate the matter. Some 550 prisoners were still receiving benefits from the country's unemployment and labour agency, which falls under Koolmees' ministry, according to a study quoted by the Nieuwsuur evening news programme on Monday. In one case a convicted drug dealer received unemployment benefits totalling €102,000, which the prisoner now has to repay in full, Nieuwsuur said. Another detainee received €24,000 over 19 months - while his address was «squarely registered as the prison», the prisoner's lawyer Rasim Kucukunal told De Volkskrant newspaper. The erroneous benefit payments happened partly because the unemployment agency was using an outdated database, Koolmees said, adding that the problem needs to be resolved. Koolmees told MPs he was unaware that... Read more