Professor Peter Rodrigues criticises Rabobank’s human rights policy
Peter Rodrigues, Professor Emeritus of Immigration and board member of the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights, recently dealt with a fascinating case in which a woman with Russian nationality felt she had suffered discrimination.
The woman in question has dual nationality (Dutch and Russian) and is married to a man of Turkish origin. She transferred an amount of €31,000 to her Turkish bank account to purchase a house in Turkey. Rabobank found the transaction dubious, with a spokesperson citing the reason that ‘Turkey can be used as a shortcut to send money to Russia’. The woman suspects that her Russian nationality was a factor and therefore feels that she suffered discrimination, reports daily newspaper de Volkskrant.
Professor Rodrigues wants to know how Rabobank’s system works and is demanding clarification. As he said to de Volkskrant, ‘Why would you ask a regular client about the origin of their Dutch passport?’ Rabobank has admitted that the woman’s Russian nationality was a factor in this case and has apologised.
The critical stance taken by Professor Rodrigues follows the recent publication of an investigative report by the Sorgdrager Commission on the functioning of the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights. The report concludes that while there was no discrimination or wrongdoing in this case, there were clear management flaws. It also contains proposals for administrative improvements, according to de Volkskrant.
More information
Read the full article in de Volkskrant (in Dutch)
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