2,800 people refused entry to NL at Schiphol last year

Last year the Koninklijke Marechaussee refused 2,800 people entry to the Netherlands at Schiphol airport, an increase of 20 percent compared to 2018. People were turned away because they did not have the right travel documents, or had fake documents, or unbelievable reasons for visiting the Netherlands, for example. The Marechaussee attributes the increase to more effective detection, NOS and De Telegraaf report.

The Koninklijke Marechaussee is a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military and is responsible for border security, including at airports. The force released its crime stats for 2019 on Wednesday.

All in all, people seemed to behave themselves better at Schiphol and in flights to the airport in 2019 than the year before, with many types of crime showing a decrease. Fewer drug mules were arrested, 541 compared to 703 in 2018. Marechaussee officers had to deal with troublesome passengers on a plane 77 times last year, compared to 115 a year earlier. And the number of incidents of "nuisance" - often caused by homeless people, according to the Telegraaf - decreased by 100 to 1,067.

The number of detained pickpockets decreased from 89 to 39. Baggage theft decreased from 258 to 168 incidents, and theft from checked baggage decreased from 95 to 38. "However, on the other hand, the number of reports of shoplifting (276) reported before the passport checks at Schiphol Plaza increased, and also in the stores after the passport checks 157 reports were filed. That led to 171 and 60 arrests respectively," a spokesperson for the Marechaussee said to the newspaper.