Dutch police were forced to deploy tear gas and water cannons on Saturday to control anti-immigration demonstrators in The Hague. The protests, which saw around 1,500 people block a major highway, resulted in 30 arrests and injuries to two police officers. Several protesters threw rocks and bottles, and a police car was set on fire.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof denounced the “shocking and bizarre images of shameless violence,” calling the events “completely unacceptable.” Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right PVV party, who was invited but did not attend the demonstration, also condemned the violence, labeling the perpetrators as “idiots.”
The protest was organized by an activist group advocating for stricter migration policies and a crackdown on asylum seekers. Tensions escalated when a large contingent of protesters, many displaying Dutch flags and symbols associated with far-right movements, confronted law enforcement. The windows of the headquarters of the centre-left D66 party were also smashed, an act condemned by party leader Rob Jetten as “utterly unacceptable” intimidation.
The Dutch government recently collapsed following Wilders’ withdrawal of his PVV party from the ruling coalition after a dispute over migration. The coalition had been in power for less than a year, with Wilders having pushed for stricter measures such as freezing asylum applications and limiting family reunification.