The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland has called on the Dutch government to distance itself from a Dutch website for reporting misdemeanours by East European migrants reports Dutch news website nu.nl.

The website was set up by the anti-immigration Freedom Party PVV. On the site they ask people to report anonymously cases in which they have be disadvantaged by Central and Middle East European migrants. The complaints can range from anything as petty as a migrant taking your parking place to taking your job. There has been a great deal of commotion about the website both in the Netherlands and abroad.

According nu.nl, Mr Jagland says, “I am very concerned because the website has been set up by a political party, which is linked to the government.” The Dutch minority government relies on parliamentary support from the Freedom Party to govern the country. In a letter to Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal, Mr Jagland calls on the government to publically speak out against the site, which he says is generally considered to be “xenophobic”.

In response, a spokesperson for the foreign minister reiterated the government’s view that the website is the responsibility of the Freedom Party. He added that political parties are at liberty, within the limits of the law, to take such initiatives.

The same message was given to ten ambassadors from Central and East European countries last week, who called the website “discriminatory and denigrating” in an open letter.