AL QAIDA TRAVEL BAN - NETHERLANDS

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 003133

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2013
TAGS: ECON EFIN ETTC NL PREL PTER
SUBJECT: AL QAIDA TRAVEL BAN - NETHERLANDS

REF: STATE 337571

Classified By: Classified by Global Section Head Andrew Mann
for reason 1.4 (d)


1. (C) Summary: The Dutch take their responsibilities under
the UN sanction regime seriously and have a "visa lookout"
system, albeit with limitations, which incorporates
information on individuals listed by the 1267 Committee.
Restricting use of Dutch passports for international travel
is more problematic. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Global Issues Head delivered demarche (reftel) to
Robert van Embden, Head, MFA Judicial and Police Cooperation
Division, and Andre van Wiggen, Senior Policy Officer. Van
Embden remarked that the Dutch take their responsibilities
under UNSC Resolutions 1267, 1390 and 1455 seriously and
expressed concern about reports of travel within Europe by
individuals designated and listed by the 1267 Committee.


3. (C) Van Wiggen then explained Dutch procedures for
reviewing issuance of travel documents. Every month the MFA
prepares and sends to all its diplomatic/consular posts a
CD-ROM containing names and information on individuals under
UN travel restrictions. Each visa applicant is supposed to
be checked against this CD-ROM list as well as through the
Schengen Information System (SIS). A post is not authorized
to issue a visa to any applicant whose name receives a "hit."
In such a situation, the file is referred for further
consideration to the MFA, which forwards the information to
the intelligence service, AIVD, for additional review. The
MFA retains final authority for issuing a visa or permitting
travel in such cases. Van Wiggen said in some instances, the
MFA will decide to issue a visa or permit travel to someone
listed on the CD-ROM in order to be able to monitor their
movements in the Netherlands. He noted, for example, the
Dutch had known in advance of Mullah Krekar's travel to the
Netherlands late last year and had not prevented it. This
CD-ROM system will remain in effect, these MFA officials
said, until the EU's Visa Information System is operational -
in a few years. Van Wiggen pointed out two shortcomings in
the current system: there is always a month's lag between
delivery of the CD-ROMs, so individuals designated and listed
by the 1267 Committee have a small window in which to avoid
detection under current operations; and, the information from
the UN that is used in the CD-ROM is often limited (i.e.,
maybe a name and birth year or range of years),making an
exact match up with an individual difficult.


4. (C) The situation is different for issuing passports.
Dutch law grants its citizens an almost absolute right to a
passport, according to van Embden and van Wiggen. In
addition, passport issuance is handled by local
municipalities - not the national authorities. While a Dutch
citizen may have the right to a passport, van Embden and van
Wiggen noted there was no corresponding right to leave the
country. When a person with a Dutch passport crosses the
country's external border, they are checked against a
national "blacklist" which includes persons with travel
restriction under the UN and departure can be denied. Van
Wiggen cautioned, however, that under Schengen rules, such a
person could freely travel to another country in the Schengen
zone and cross its external border, avoiding detection under
the Dutch "blacklist" system.

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