The protest started on a square near the town hall, where a meeting was taking place about asylum reception locations in and near Uithoorn. The demonstration was initially peaceful, but at a certain point the atmosphere changed. Demonstrators pelted counter-demonstrators and police officers with heavy fireworks and eggs.
ME intervenes in protest against asylum reception in Houten
After the demonstrators listened via a livestream to speakers participating in the committee meeting inside, some of them ran towards a small group of counter-demonstrators standing on the other side of a road. The riot police stopped the anti-azc demonstrators.
Several hundred demonstrators also entered a residential area, after which the riot police chased them. The police have arrested a total of four people for incitement, public violence, insult and wearing a balaclava, a spokesperson said.
When asked why more people have not been arrested, he says: “You just have to be able to trace it.” One detainee resisted, causing the police to use pepper spray. Peace has now returned to the neighborhood, the spokesperson said.
Interested parties on the Amstelplein in Uithoorn during the demonstration against the arrival of an asylum seekers’ center. © ANP
Several activists against the arrival of asylum seekers carried the Prince’s Flag, associated with the Nazi NSB, with a VOC logo on it. People shouted “AZC away with it” and “We are the Netherlands”. According to a reporter, the counter-demonstrators shouted slogans against fascism. One of them carried a sign that read “Refugees don’t welcome Nazis!”
The municipality and police had taken measures after a turbulent previous demonstration at a committee meeting in September. Activists then tried to enter the town hall, prompting police intervention. “For reasons of order and safety”, the press and public were not welcome at the meeting this time, the municipality announced in advance.
The police also had to intervene on Tuesday evening at a protest against an asylum seeker center in Houten. Here too, anti-azc activists threw eggs and fireworks in the direction of counter-protesters and the police.