Controversial Chinese-made cameras monitoring traffic on Dutch roads

Last year, the National Police bought some 700 cameras made by controversial Chinese company Dahua to monitor traffic on Dutch roads, Follow the Money reported on Thursday. Amsterdam also recently installed 254 of these cameras in the city.

According to the investigative journalism platform, Dahua is controversial because of concerns about espionage and human rights violations. The brand is linked to the oppression of Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang province. According to recent estimations, at least a million people are imprisoned in "reeducation camps" in the area. Various media and investigative agencies reported that Dahua is involved in the surveillance system China uses to keep an eye on the Uyghur people. 

There are also concerns that Dahua uses its cameras to monitor companies and organizations, though concrete evidence of that has never been provided. The United States banned the use of Dahua cameras on its government buildings due to these concerns.

In the Netherlands, the cameras are mainly used to monitor roads and highways, national borders, and environmental zones. Most of them hang along the roads to scan the license plates of passing vehicles.

The police bought their cameras from the Noord-Holland company Connection Systems. The police confirmed to Follow the Money that Dahua made the cameras.