Loosdrecht shelter empties, but riots still weigh on village

The last asylum seekers have left the emergency shelter at the municipal building (gemeentehuis) in Loosdrecht, in the municipality of Wijdemeren. The protests and riots over the shelter in April and May still weigh on the village.

After the first asylum seekers arrived on 12 May, a protest got badly out of hand. Heavy fireworks and burning torches were thrown at the building and at the police. A fire broke out and the fire brigade was obstructed. Police used a water cannon and arrested several suspects.

Earlier, in the week of 20 April, protests and riots took place for three days in a row at the municipal building where the shelter was to be set up.

The municipality had first planned to take in 110 people. After the protests and riots it cut that to seventy.

Mayor Verheijen says the municipality did not communicate well enough and that it is important to acknowledge this. "We went straight into action mode, we tried hard to communicate, but we did not manage that well enough," he said.

Verheijen said it was also "a kind of magnification of a discussion that was going on nationally. But then it was suddenly right on your own doorstep." He said the resistance was partly because the asylum seekers were single men.