Water companies Dunea and PWN are going to court today because they cut off drinking water for families with children when the water bill has not been paid. The Dutch state has also been summoned because the rights of the children are not protected.
According to Defense for Children and the Netherlands Jurists Committee for Human Rights (NJCM), closing off the water is in violation of international children’s rights and human rights.
Every year, according to the two parties that take the water companies to court, 500 to 750 families with children are closed for non-payment. The exact number is not known because it is not registered whether children live with a family. According to the two organizations it is certain that Dunea and PWN have closed off families with children because the bill was not paid.
Children are the victims of this, although they are not responsible for the debt that has arisen, according to Defense for Children and the NJCM. According to them, every child has an independent right to water on the basis of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This means that governments must ensure that every child has access to drinking water, even if their parents cannot pay the bill. That is why the Dutch state has also been summoned. Today is the substantive hearing of the case.
Water from the ditch
“We come across very distressing situations,” says Mariëlle Bahlmann, juvenile legal adviser at Defense for Children. “We recently visited a family with a seven-month-old baby. The father walked a few kilometers every day with jerry cans to a gas station where he could get free water. They fetched water from the ditch with buckets for the toilet. This occurs in the Netherlands. They are vulnerable families. Often there is only one parent and there are many debts. If you can’t even pay the water bill, then it’s really bad. It is not the unwillingness of the people, but impotence.”
Anyone who does not pay the water bill is not simply cut off. This only happens after reminders and a conversation. If that does not lead to a solution, the tap is closed. For the next four days, people receive 12 liters of water per person in water bags or jerry cans. Within those four days, debt counseling and the municipality can be called in to undo the closure. This arrangement is absolutely insufficient, according to Defense for Children and the NJCM. According to the World Health Organization, every person needs 50 to 100 liters of water per day to meet basic needs.
indispensable
Bahlmann: ,,Water is indispensable for the life and health of a child. We therefore ask the judge today to stop cutting off children from water as a result of non-payment. The government must take action. There are also other options to ensure that parents pay the bill, without violating children’s rights.”
According to the two organizations, payment of the water bill and the supply should be split. The water must continue to flow if there are children in the family, while the claim on the parents remains.
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