The police are being pelted with projectiles during an anti-asylum demonstration.
Police were attacked with stones and bottles during a protest against a planned asylum seekers’ centre in a village near Dordrecht, forcing riot officers to intervene and push back the crowd.
The incident took place in Bleskensgraaf, where hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the De Spil conference centre. Inside the building, local councillors were meeting to discuss plans to house up to 125 asylum seekers. Some protesters tried to force their way into the venue while the meeting was underway.
The protest initially remained peaceful, with around 150 vehicles arriving in convoy and several hundred people waving banners and Dutch flags. However, police said the mood changed sharply when the meeting began at 7:30 pm, and officers were soon targeted with thrown objects.
No arrests were made and no injuries were reported, but riot police were deployed to drive back the crowd. A similar protest took place two weeks earlier in nearby Nieuw-Lekkerland, which belongs to the same municipality of Molenland, also opposing a refugee housing project.
Mayor ثيو سيخرس was loudly jeered as he accepted a petition with 10,000 signatures against the plan. While the municipality is required to house 250 asylum seekers under a national distribution policy, opponents argue that the selected locations are not suitable for such facilities.