Dutch youth protectors ignored abuse warnings at Spanish home Huize Soria

What the investigation found

Investigators at the Maruda bureau concluded that young people placed at Huize Soria were exposed to group pressure, intimidation, physical violence, restrictions of their freedom without legal basis and (sexual) boundary-crossing behaviour. The partly public report was commissioned by Samen Veilig Midden-Nederland (SVMN), which also operates as SAVE Jeugdbescherming and Veilig Thuis Utrecht, at the request of the Inspectie Jeugd en Gezin (IGJ). It was published on Monday, 2 November, and its findings match what young people told the broadcaster Nieuwsuur in October. Huize Soria was a family home on an estate near Alicante in Spain, run by a Dutch couple, and Spanish authorities closed it at the beginning of October, saying its permits were not in order.

Sixteen former clients described extreme treatment methods to Nieuwsuur. According to Nieuwsuur's reporting, they said they were locked behind electrified wire and went days without food. Huize Soria rejected the allegations firmly, said it did not recognise the experiences and announced a criminal complaint against the broadcaster. The investigators also interviewed three young people who had been placed through the organisation, and they say their conclusions correspond with the accounts given to Nieuwsuur.

Placements without consent

Placing young people abroad requires separate permission from the Central Authority for International Child Affairs, which asks the receiving country for consent. The report says SVMN was unaware of that requirement until 2024, which the investigators attribute to a 'blind spot'. Court rulings from 2024 repeatedly told the organisation that placements at Huize Soria were not permitted. As far as the investigators could verify, none of the placements had received prior consent from the Spanish Central Authority. SVMN's own statement is narrower, saying that not all placements met the consent requirement.

NOS reports that one SVMN caseworker placed six young people from the municipality of Veenendaal at the home and did not consult the expert group normally asked for advice in such cases. The investigators put this down to the autonomy staff were given, and the youth protectors followed the advice of Huize Soria's lawyer instead of their own legal advisers. De Volkskrant reports that the mandatory notification to the government was left out for at least six young people sent to the home after 2022.

Warnings that were set aside

NOS reports that complaints about the home have reached authorities since 2016, and that the home treated at least 265 Dutch young people with behaviour problems over the past twenty years. The Children's Ombudsman described concerns about the home in a 2022 report, several youth care organisations stopped placing young people there in 2023, and a 2024 warning led to a notification to the IGJ. Investigators say nobody at SVMN had a full overview of these warnings, which they blame on weak procedures and control mechanisms.

According to Trouw, SVMN only realised in May 2026 that the home might be unsafe, when three young people returned to the Netherlands and reported boundary-crossing behaviour. The investigators describe 'tunnel vision' among staff, who were convinced that placement in Spain served the young people's interest and therefore set aside warnings about poor treatment. Visits took place once or twice a year, and the young people often did not feel free to speak while they lived at the home.

Response and next steps

SVMN says it will not place young people abroad for now, that it wants to be more receptive to warnings and that supervision must be strengthened. Trouw reports that the organisation has decided to place no children abroad at all. SVMN chair Anja Jonkers responded to the findings with a statement.

“What these young people have experienced deeply affects us. They should have been able to count on safe and appropriate help.”

Jonkers told Trouw that she felt responsible as a board member for the failure to protect these young people. NOS reports that SVMN will present an improvement plan.