(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans on Wednesday announced a new policy towards diplomats and family members who break the law and then claim diplomatic immunity.
"Diplomats who break the rules will be tackled," the Dutch media quoted him saying.
"Immunity does not mean our laws do not apply to them. The government is planning to publish an annual list of embassies and international organisations whose staff do not pay their fines," Timmermans told the parliament.
The government will also ask for diplomatic immunity to be lifted in serious cases, he said.
The media reports said people with diplomatic immunity in the Netherlands have been responsible for 85 crimes since 2010.
In 13 cases, diplomatic staff were caught shoplifting or were involved in other petty crime while in eight cases domestic violence was an issue.
An Afghan diplomat who hit a Dutch man after a road incident last year was sent back home.
Colombia recalled one of its diplomat after he was found to have connections to drugs gangs. Russian and Chinese diplomats had six accusations each of wrong-doing to their name, according to the Dutch RT broadcaster.
The diplomatic corps in the Netherlands includes around 20,000 people.
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