In recent weeks there has been significant unrest in several Dutch municipalities due to plans to establish new asylum reception centres (asylmottak). Citizens are taking to the streets in protest against centrally allocated centres, often announced with only a few days’ notice and without sufficient consultation with the local population.
The most widely discussed case is the protests in the small town of Loosdrecht, where the municipality has planned to place 110 male asylum seekers in an old municipal building right next to a hockey club for teenage girls. The decision triggered several days of demonstrations with hundreds of participants each evening.
– Riot police with batons and authorisation to use them
The protests began peacefully, but developed into unrest as the evenings progressed. Demonstrators threw fireworks, eggs, stones and filled water bottles at the police and the building. The police responded by deploying riot police with batons and authorisation to use them. Several videos show harsh physical confrontation in which demonstrators (including young people) were beaten down. Some clips show unconscious individuals lying on the ground while the police continue the operation. In total, at least 13 persons were arrested in Loosdrecht.
As a consequence of the unrest, the municipality has scaled back the plans. The number of places has been reduced from 110 to 70, and the opening has been postponed. The aim is to “restore trust” in the local community.
Nederland: Opprørspoliti satt inn i brutal aksjon mot landsby som demonstrerte mot nytt asylsenter
Loosdrecht is not alone
Similar protests have in recent days also come from citizens in IJsselstein, Apeldoorn and Aalsmeer and other municipalities, from citizens who are frustrated at being excluded from the initial process and only being presented with the decision shortly before the asylum reception centres are to open.
IJsselstein near Utrecht has experienced partly violent demonstrations against a planned asylum reception centre. In Den Bosch, the police intervened against demonstrators protesting against a centre for 50 asylum seekers aged 15 to 18. In Nieuw-Lekkerland, several hundred residents demonstrated against new centres.
That small local communities are allocated large groups of men of fighting age gives rise to concerns regarding security, crime and other strains on local community resources.
Asylum Minister Bart van den Brink has called the protests “unacceptable”, while many people consider that the police response towards ordinary citizens who feel overridden has been unnecessarily harsh.
Civil war next
The Dutch folk singer Gerard Joling has, in strong terms, commented on the situation in the programme “Vandaag Inside”. He expresses understanding for the frustration and warns that if The Hague continues to ignore its own citizens, the Netherlands risks “a kind of civil war”.
– Unrest and aversion towards The Hague are growing everywhere. Also in my own municipality of Aalsmeer. The Hague simply will not listen. The country is being taken over by foreigners, and it is the fault of the Left. We have simply let too many in to a country that is too small. Sooner or later it will collide. It would not surprise me if a civil war breaks out within the next three years, he says.
Gerard Joling over aanhoudende asielopstand in Nederland: 'Volgend jaar krijgen we een burgeroorlog'
https://t.co/DdNAFT8u9V— NieuwRechts (@NieuwRechtsNL) April 29, 2026