After police attempted to disperse an estimated 1000 protesters who had marched on the local town hall, violence erupted, with anti-immigration demonstrators letting off flares and fireworks, targetting law enforcement. Police have yet to release the number of those arrested and injured.
The protest was organised after town officials called a meeting on Monday over plans to accommodate some 500 refugees in the town, spread out over next ten years. The rally also followed a statement by populist far-right politician Geert Wilders of the Freedom Party (PVV) called for all Muslim male refugees to be locked up in asylum centres. Wilders has been sued several times for inciting racial hatred.
