The Netherlands is one of 19 countries in which American whistleblower Edward Snowden has asked for asylum, the Wikileaks organisation says on its website.

Snowden, who is wanted in the US for leaking information about the clandestine monitoring of internet traffic by security services, is currently holed up in Moscow airport’s transit lounge.

Snowden has also requested asylum in Germany, France, Cuba, Bolivia and Brazil, among other countries. The requests have been delivered to the various embassies in Moscow, Wikileaks, which is supporting Snowden, said.

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MPs from Socialist Party SP and left-wing greens GroenLinks have called on the Netherlands to grant Snowden refugee status.

‘We have seen in the case of Bradley Manning what the US does to whistleblowers,’ said GroenLinks MP Linda Voortman. ‘His human rights are being abused every day. We cannot let that happen to someone else.’

However, D66 parliamentarian Gerard Schouw said the Netherlands is not a good option because of its extradition treaty with America, news agency ANP reported.

Sietse Fritsma, of the anti-immigration PVV, said under Dutch asylum law, Snowden has to apply for asylum in Russia, not a third country such as the Netherlands. A request to the Netherlands can only be made if he is in the country and the immigration service can assess his claim, Fritsma said.

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