According to a university spokesperson, no security guards in plainclothes walk around the campus of TU Delft nor has the university ever considered doing so. “We use two parties who are always recognisable. Our regular campus security is provided by G4S. But event security is also always recognisable,” said the spokesperson.
Commotion arose on Monday when it was revealed that Leiden University hires security guards for its The Hague branch who do not wear uniforms, but civilian clothes. A number of TU Delft students have classes in Hague buildings at Leiden University. For example, the Engineering and Policy Analysis master’s is located on the fifth floor of the Wijnhaven building. When asked if plainclothes security guards are also active here, a spokesperson for Leiden University answered that ‘security is custom work’ and that this ‘can apply in any building, including Wijnhaven.’
In the Dutch newspaper AD (in Dutch) student representatives expressed fierce criticism of the plainclothes guards hired for Campus The Hague. Human rights organisation Amnesty International reacted indignantly, as did the Haagse Stadspartij. This local political party has asked written questions about the security guards.
The Leiden educational institution calls them “proactive security guards. These “qualified security guards” would be “recognisable to everyone after being deployed a few times. According to the university, they are there to ensure the safety of students and staff, but in the AD, students dispute that reading.
Photographs
For example, the newspaper has student representative Esma talking about how some of her fellow students avoid the The Hague education buildings because they feel spied on. She has been conducting research for months, according to the newspaper, which would show that black students and people from the Middle East in particular are being closely watched. Furthermore, the guards would photograph students on campus, including at events and demonstrations.
According to a spokesperson of the Dutch organisation Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (Personal Data Authority), “surreptitious monitoring of people is certainly not allowed just like that. In general, rules apply to, for example, security and surveillance at universities. Exactly which rules apply depends on the exact circumstances.”
The spokesperson cannot say whether the authority is investigating this particular situation. “That is confidential.”
(HOP, BB/Delta, AdB)
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