(NL Times) In addition to Dutch municipalities, the Ministry of Social Affairs also commissioned secret investigations into mosques in the Netherlands, Minister Karien van Gennip of Social Affairs admitted in a letter to parliament this week, NRC reports.
Social Affairs quietly investigated “persons, organizations, and networks within Muslim communities,” mainly targeting Dutch Salafists, who adhere to a super-orthodox version of Islam. The ministry’s investigation methods weren’t “transparent,” and the ministry recorded privacy-sensitive data about investigated people, including their “religious beliefs, behavior or expressions,” van [Gennip] said in the letter. “I deeply regret this and will learn lessons from this for the future.”
The minister’s letter is part of a broader plan to restore trust between the Muslim community and the government.
