The government must do more to help citizens whose names are wrongly added to terrorism “watch lists” shared by intelligence agencies, national ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen has said.

Lack of transparency makes it “virtually impossible” for people to have their names removed from watch lists or find out if they are included on them, Van Zutphen said in a report published on Tuesday.

The ombudsman said he had received around 10 complaints from people who claimed their names were on the CTER register, which monitors counter-terrorism, extremism and radicalisation, but the figure was likely to be the tip of the iceberg.

Investigative website Follow The Money said last year that the register had accumulated 10,000 names since it was set up in 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11.

The then justice minister, Dilan Yesilgöz, now leader of the VVD party, disputed the figure but admitted that some people’s names had not been removed from the list when they were no longer suspected of being involved in terrorism.

No explanation

She said it was down to the individuals concerned to clear their names. But Van Zutphen said the secrecy of the process left them “fumbling in the dark” against the authorities.

Cases often only came to light when people were unexpectedly refused entry to another country, sometimes being detained for hours or days before being put on fllghts back to the Netherlands with no explanation.

One man, 36-year-old Said Ahamari, told radio documentary show Argos he had been sent back from Mexico in 2021, where he had travelled for a holiday, after his passport triggered a security check.

Even after his name was cleared and he was given an official letter stating he was not a suspect to take with him when flying, he was unable to enter the US or Mexico, limiting his opportunities to work as an IT consultant.

“Impact on rights”

Van Zutphen said he had been unable to establish how many people were affected, but after speaking to police, the border security force (Marechaussee) and 15 citizens, he believed the number to run into the hundreds.

“Their details are registered, discussed and shared, without it being made clear why, who did it and how those affected can challenge an inaccurate registration,” he wrote in his report, Blind vertrouwen? (Blind faith?).

“This affects their individual rights and freedoms and has an impact on their lives.”

Police said they shared the ombudsman’s view that a “robust” process was needed to prevent innocent civilians being caught in the net.

“Citizens who don’t know what information is being processed about them should know where they can go if they have questions. The police are looking at ways of making this process more accessible,” a spokesman told Nu.nl.

The Marechaussee said it wanted to study the report before commenting.