The Utrecht municipality of IJsselstein experienced, in the words of mayor Ester Weststeijn, a “brutal” night. During the night from Saturday to Sunday, “Gajes” smashed the windows of the town hall with bricks, covered the revolving door with stickers and hung up an upside-down flag. No one has been arrested yet, but the police have started an investigation.
Weststeijn described the violence as “a completely unacceptable way to express emotions.” She made an explicit distinction between the residents who have demonstrated non-violently in recent weeks against the arrival of the temporary asylum shelter, and the people who are responsible for the destruction, the “gajes”.
In IJsselstein the first dissatisfaction arose when the municipality (more than 33,000 inhabitants) announced in mid-April that it wanted to accommodate 100 to 150 asylum seekers for six months on a field of the local football club. Tense demonstrations followed, with the fire brigade having to respond several times after arson. On Friday evening, Weststeijn gave a speech to a hostile, swearing crowd. In front of her was a banner with the text ‘No Berberg goats on our fields’, writes the ANP news agency.
Mayors warn
The arrival of a reception location also led to unrest, demonstrations and destruction of the town hall in Loosdrecht (municipality of Wijdemeren) in recent weeks. Acting mayor Mark Verheijen (VVD) announced the program on Sunday Outside court a connection with national policy. According to him, support for shelter is decreasing and this cannot be seen separately from what is happening in The Hague, or is not happening. “For three years in a row, we have now actually seen three cabinets that do not deliver on this theme,” says Verheijen.
Mayor Sharon Dijksma (PvdA) of Utrecht, also chairman of the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG), spoke on Sunday morning of a “new act of aggression”. She warned that the asylum debate is “increasingly derailing.” According to Dijksma, violence is used to enforce political positions and intimidate administrators. “That is why a huge line must be drawn in the sand and now.”
At the same time, Dijksma emphasized that there must be room for residents to resist shelter in their area. According to her, this requires understanding from administrators, but also clear explanations. Dijksma points to the dispersal law, which the VNG has campaigned for, and which must ensure a balanced distribution of asylum seekers across municipalities. “It is not appropriate for municipalities to shirk this task. This is precisely how we keep childcare manageable for everyone,” says Dijksma. She described The Hague’s asylum policy as a “political bog fire”.
‘Extreme right involved in protests’
According to the NGO Justice for Prosperity by former AIVD member Jelle Postma, the Identitair Verzet (IDV) network again emphatically manifested itself in April 2026 around local protests against asylum reception, including in Loosdrecht, IJsselstein and other places. IDV is the Dutch branch of the pan-European identitarian movement, whose French parent organization was banned by the French state as a private militia in 2021.
According to the researchers, IDV deliberately positions itself alongside groups such as Defend Netherlands to link local unrest to a broader international network. The organization uses apparently moderate slogans — such as “stop police violence against our own people” — that respond to widely shared feelings of dissatisfaction without sounding recognisably far-right. As a result, demonstrators often do not realize who they are with. Justice for Prosperity signals a coordinated restart of IDV: multiple websites were registered on identical hosting infrastructure within three days. The researchers warn against escalation at announced demonstrations, including a meeting on May 9 in Ter Apel where IDV and Defend Netherlands will perform jointly in public for the first time. A counter-demonstration has already been announced.
