A disused town hall where 70 asylum seekers were due to be housed for six months has been vandalised overnight.
Concrete blocks were used to smashed windows, security fences were trampled to the ground and a road sign was thrown through a window pane of the former council building in Loosdrecht, police said.
Police said one person was arrested late on Monday night, but a spokesman said a “group of activists” was believed to be responsible for the violence.
The building in the Noord-Holland village has been the focus of a week of protests against plans by the council to use it as an emergency shelter for 110 refugees.
Wijdemeren municipality reduced the number to 70 last week, saying the number was more “appropriate to the local situation”, but insisted it had not caved in to violence.
The council also delayed the opening of the facility by two weeks until May 6, saying it was not ready. The town hall is currently empty because the council is fusing with neighbouring Hilversum, with elections taking place later this year.
“Spreading law”
The government has ordered all local authorities to come up with plans to house asylum seekers by July 1 to address a shortfall of 4,500 places, amid fears people may end up sleeping in the streets.
Asylum minister Bart van den Brink has warned he will invoke the “spreading law”, which allows him to force councils to take a proportionate share of refugees, if they do not make their own arrangements.
Local residents in Loosdrecht have complained they were not consulted by the council about the decision and said they are concerned about public safety because the asylum seekers are unaccompanied men.
The protests have become increasingly heated, with riot police sent in to disperse crowds of several hundred people, some of whom threw stones, bottles and fireworks back at the police.
Some local residents said the demonstration had been fuelled by extremist groups from outside the area operating under the banner of Defend Netherlands.
As the violence escalated, videos were circulated on social media claiming that police had used disproportionate violence against some protesters, such as a man who was filmed apparently being beaten on the ground.
Police released their own footage of the incident, showing the man had lain on the ground after being told to kneel.
Justice minister David van Weel defended the actions of the police, saying: “There are no indications that their actions were excessive”. He added: “There were real thugs, there was real rioting”.
But he also said he “understood that citizens are concerned” about decisions taken by local councils to house asylum seekers.
