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Riot Police Intervene at AZC Protest in Molenlanden as Council Seeks Additional Sites

The municipality will broaden the site study to weigh safety and livability ahead of a summer decision.

Overview

  • Demonstrations outside De Spil in Bleskensgraaf escalated during the Feb. 24–25 council meeting, with flares, smoke and attempts to force entry.
  • The riot police (ME) were deployed and were pelted with glass and stones, and officers used batons to push the crowd back.
  • Mayor Theo Segers suspended the meeting and ordered dispersal; the session later resumed, with police reporting no injuries and no arrests.
  • The council supported continuing COA-backed research into four candidate locations and instructed the executive to identify two more, explicitly assessing safety, livability and distance to homes.
  • Under the national Spreidingswet, Molenlanden must host 250 asylum seekers, and observers noted the presence of national groups Defend Netherlands and Nationale Trots at the protest.