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Holland: BVD try to recruit spies

01 September 1993

On September 15, it become known that a young woman working as a cleaner in the local police station in Nijmegen had been asked by the BVD to "spy" on Irish extremist organizations. She subsequently became involved in the Ireland Komitee Nederland (IKN, a four-man operation) and between 1989 and 1991 made several trips to Northern Ireland and London. A day later, another young woman (20), who is studying to become a journalist, came forward with a somewhat similar story. As a student, she took a course in Dublin between September 1992 and May 1993. On her arrival back home last June she was surprised to be approached by a BVD employee who tried to persuade her to travel to the UK & Ireland to collect information on extremist organizations. Both women said the man identified himself as "Cor van de Have", claiming to be the BVD's IRA specialist. The journalist/student turned him down on their second meeting, fearing for her own security.

A spokeswoman from the Ministry of the Interior confirmed that the BVD has approached several people to travel to Ireland to collect information, but refused to give further details.