Arrests after rioters at anti-asylum protest clash with police

At least 10 people have been arrested after riot police once again broke up a violent demonstration against plans to open an asylum seekers’ centre.

Around 300 people turned up to protest at the council building in Opleusden, Gelderland, where Neder-Betuwe municipal councillors were discussing where to house 132 refugees, including eight unaccompanied minors, on Thursday evening.

The demonstration was initially peaceful, but riot police were sent in after some protesters began attacking officers when the crowd was asked to disperse at around 10.30pm.

Flares were lit, buildings were vandalised and kerbstones were ripped out of the ground to throw at police. No injuries were reported.

A group calling itself Defend Rivierlanden announced the demonstration in advance.

“Defend” groups have been implicated in violent anti-asylum protests in towns and villages across the Netherlands this summer, including Loosduinen and Engelen.

They were also prominent during the riots in The Hague last September in which around 1,200 demonstrators clashed with police and the offices of political party D66, led by the now prime minister Rob Jetten, were vandalised.

The mayor of Neder-Betuwe, Jan Kottelenberg, said he did not expect a major confrontation because the municipality has not yet specified where the refugees should be housed.

He added that extra police were not drafted in for the meeting because capacity was already stretched by the need for extra patrols in nearby Overasselt, the village where a group of armed men laid siege to a farmhouse three weeks ago.