Here’s an update on the situation of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who has returned to the Netherlands amid confused reports about the status of her security: ’Government should protect Hirsi Ali’.

HILVERSUM – Former VVD minister Rita Verdonk thinks the government should provide security for Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who returned to the Netherlands on Monday.

She responded on the television programme NOVA on Monday night to the forced return of Hirsi Ali. The Netherlands reportedly no longer wants to pay the costs for the former VVD MP’s security in the US, where she has been working for a right-wing think tank (American Enterprise Institute) since September.

Verdonk said that the Dutch government is responsible for the safety of its citizens. Hirsi Ali is under threat in the Netherlands while she makes use of her democratic right to free expression.

The government must then choose: tackle terrorists or protect its citizens, is Verdonk’s reasoning. The government should also pay the security costs, or recover them from the US government or Hirsi Ali’s employer in the US, she added.

Lots of people emailed about this story at Expatica yesterday, which makes an unsourced claim that “American authorities” had refused to pay for her protection: Ayaan Hirsi Ali back in Netherlands.

The former legislator for the Liberal VVD party was allegedly forced to leave the US as American authorities had refused to finance the expenses of her personal security measures.

However, this is the only article that makes this claim; I’m skeptical and suspect a European writer or politician of taking an opportunity to bash America, when the real source of this controversy was apparently the Dutch government’s refusal to pay for security. In any case, before getting upset with the US government, I suggest we wait for the real story to emerge; I don’t think we’ve seen the whole picture yet.