Man, 34, arrested over vandalism at Loosdrecht asylum shelter

A 34-year-old man has been arrested by police investigating an attack by vandals on a former council office that is due to be turned into an emergency shelter for refugees.

Police said a group of around 50 people descended on the partly empty building in Loosdrecht, near Hilversum, which has been the focus of a week of violent protests.

The man who was arrested is from Ermelo in Gelderland, 50km away from Loosdrecht and an hour’s drive by car.

Local residents had previously said they believed the protests were being fuelled by activists from outside the area. People in masks threw stones, fireworks and bottles of liquid at riot police who were sent in to disperse the crowd. One man has been convicted of hurling a flaming torch at the police.

Justice minister David van Weel also said he did not rule out the possibility that the demonstrations had become “a magnet for groups with bad intentions or who set out to riot”.

The municipal council in Wijdemeren cut the number of lone male asylum seekers who will live in the temporary shelter from 110 to 70 last week in the wake of the protests, saying the lower number was “more appropriate to the local situation”. The start date has also been postponed by two weeks to May 6.

But residents have criticised the council for announcing the plan at short notice without consulting people living near the site.

Local mayor Mark Verheijen, said the plan would go ahead to relieve the strain on the asylum accommodation system and the overcrowded reception centre in Ter Apel.

“I’m happy to talk to people from Loosdrecht about how we can best organise temporary emergency accommodation,” he told NOS. “I don’t need people from outside coming here and using the asylum debate to create chaos. That’s where we draw the line.”