Dutch police officials will be playing a bigger part in international missions, police chiefs said on website Police.nl.

Police chief Erik Akerboom said ‘dozens’ of extra officials would be sent abroad in the coming years.

According to Akerboom, much of the criminality which is also affecting the Netherlands originates abroad. ‘Organised crime, terrorism or cyber criminality can only be tackled internationally. Instead of waiting for it to cross the border, we are opting for the more effective option of strengthening local police forces,’ he said.

Dutch police officials have been involved in international missions for years and are involved in helping set up local police forces in Georgia, Kosovo, Libya, Mali, Eastern Ukraine and Somalia.

‘We think people everywhere have a right to live safely,’ Akerboom said, ‘but we are not only driven by idealism. I visited the EULEX mission in Kosovo not long ago and our colleagues on the ground are helping to prevent problems from spilling over to the Netherlands. Terrorism, illegal immigration, cybercrime often have an international component or even a foreign source.’