Dutch appeals court prohibits border police ethnic profiling

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An appeals court has prohibited the Netherlands’ military police from using racial profiling as a way of selecting people for identity checks at borders. Tuesday’s ruling is a victory for two citizens and rights groups who sued the government. The Hague Court of Appeal overturned a 2021 ruling that said ethnicity could be one of the criteria for singling out passengers, but not the only one. The appeals court says that it found that the border police force “makes a distinction on the basis of race.” The court banned the force “from making selection decisions that are (partly) based on race” during border checks. Rights groups have welcomed the ruling. A border police spokesman says the force will carefully study it.