THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) 鈥 An appeals court on Tuesday prohibited the Netherlands' military police from using racial profiling as a way of selecting people for identity checks at borders, marking a victory for two citizens and rights groups who sued the government.
The Hague Court of Appeal overturned a that said ethnicity could be one of the criteria for singling out passengers, but not the only one. The checks are carried out at airports and on trains and buses from European Union destinations to prevent people illegally coming and staying in the Netherlands.
The appeal court said in a statement that it found that the police, called the Marechaussee, 鈥渕akes a distinction on the basis of race. Given the serious consequences of discrimination on grounds of race, such discrimination should only be made if there are particularly compelling reasons. The State has not demonstrated such compelling reasons."
The court said it 鈥渢herefore prohibits the State from making selection decisions that are (partly) based on race鈥 during border checks.
The case was brought by two citizens who argued that they were singled out for checks by officers from the country鈥檚 Marechaussee police force because of the color of their skin.
One of the plaintiffs, Mpanzu Bamenga, a city councillor from Eindhoven who was born in Congo, said after the original ruling in 2021, every time he returned to "my country, the Netherlands, I鈥檓 being stopped because of my ethnicity.鈥
On Tuesday, he was jubilant at the court's ruling.
鈥淭his is discrimination, it鈥檚 ethnic profiling," he said in a telephone interview. And it鈥檚 so wonderful to see that the higher courts basically acknowledge it. And for me, as a human being, it鈥檚 so good to see that justice has prevailed.鈥
The Marechaussee said after the 2021 court case that it would change the way it works at border checks, but the appeals court said it saw 鈥渘o or only limited change in working method.鈥
Marechaussee spokesman Maj. Robert van Kapel said the organization would carefully study the ruling 鈥渁nd see what its consequences are for now.鈥
The organization has the option to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Dionne Abdoelhafiezkhan of the Dutch rights group Controle Alt Delete said the court ruling 鈥渁lso makes it clear that someone鈥檚 appearance and color say nothing about someone鈥檚 nationality. That鈥檚 an important correction to the court鈥檚 earlier ruling that shocked many people of color and made us feel like second-class citizens.鈥
