AMSTERDAM (Dispatches) -- Local media has revealed that at least 10 towns and cities in the Netherlands have been secretly investigating mosques and Islamic institutions through private companies.
According to local daily NRC Handelsblad, mosque association officials and members active in the Muslim community were investigated by Nuance door Training and Advice (NTA) on behalf of municipalities, using unlawful undercover methods.
NTA staff reportedly entered mosques and visited community leaders without revealing their true identities in municipalities including Rotterdam, Delft, Almere, Huizen, Leidschendam-Voorburg, Zoetermeer, Veenendaal and Ede.
The investigations have cost an estimated total of $347,990, NRC Handelsblad wrote.
The newspaper also found that investigative reports were written up, but were not made public nor were they shared with the municipal councils and the organizations that were investigated.
According to the daily, findings on the backgrounds of imams and administrators, such as where they came from or their schooling, were submitted to the municipalities as “secret information” by the NTA.
The news has caused discontent among Muslim communities, who feel they have been “othered” through the secret investigations.
Spior, an organization representing Muslims which encourages their participation in Dutch society, issued a statement calling the investigations an example of Islamophobia.
“With a government that so violently and radically portrays the Muslim community as the ‘other’ and ‘potentially dangerous’, populism seems to have reached the upper government levels,” the organization said.
Citing constitutional law professor Ymre Schuurmans, the daily reported that such investigations were “unlawful” and that the “municipalities cannot do this through private companies.”
Muhsin Köktaş, head of the Dutch Muslim Organization for Government Relations, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they were greatly disappointed by the news.
Underlining that for years Muslims have been working to be good citizens in the

Netherlands, Köktaş said: “With such actions, the state is constantly derailing our efforts. For this reason, they lose the trust of Muslims instead of gaining it.”
“This causes discrimination in society,” he said. “We will convey these concerns to the authorized state institutions and consult on what measures they will take to prevent it from happening again.”
Tunahan Kuzu, a Turkish-born Dutch lawmaker and founding member of the pro-migrant political party Denk, echoed Köktaş’s remarks, saying that the situation damaged Muslims’ trust in the Dutch government.
“It’s illegal for municipalities to investigate mosques in this way,” Kuzu said.
“We will take the necessary steps in parliament to stop this state practice, which that places so-called researchers among the mosque community,” he added.
Earlier this year, far-right politician Geert Wilders campaigned to close mosques, Islamic schools and ban the Qur’an in the Netherlands. His party, the Party for Freedom (PVV), also called for the establishment of a ministry for “repatriation” and de-Islamification.