Netherlands, Tried to Block a Bus Carrying 28 Asylum Seekers on Monday Evening, Delaying Their Arrival at a Sports Hall Used As Emergency

The asylum seekers were being moved from Ter Apel, where no beds were available, to the Friesland village. The protest kept the bus from reaching the shelter for hours, prompting the municipality to deploy a police mobile unit around midnight. Mayor De Vries of Achtkarspelen told Omrop Fryslân that the atmosphere turned hostile and people attempted to stop the bus.

Protesters threw nails on the road and made loud noise, according to the municipality. Police cleared the route without violence, and around 2:00 a.m. the asylum seekers were able to disembark and sleep briefly. At 7:00 a.m., the overnight shelter closed and they were taken back to Ter Apel by bus; they were not allowed to leave the premises in between.

De Vries called it "very regrettable" that he had to deploy riot police to get asylum seekers to their beds. He said protesters had agreed not to go onto the road and described the disruption for the neighborhood as "gigantic, but added: "That disruption is caused by the activists. Not by the people staying there.

Among the demonstrators were supporters of Ús Leefbaar Achtkarspelen, a movement founded in May by residents who say they feel unheard, according to the Leeuwarder Courant. The mayor said there were also protesters from surrounding villages but not from farther away. No arrests were made.

This was the third consecutive night of unrest at the Surhuisterveen sports hall, which serves as overflow accommodation for up to 50 people when the regular night shelter in Nieuwe Pekela is full. That arrangement between the two municipalities, about 70 kilometers apart, runs for four weeks and expires at the end of this week. The Friesland hall had not been used until this week due to a temporary closure of the Nieuwe Pekela facility following complaints from neighbors about noisy security guards at that Groningen shelter.

Mayor Kuin of Pekela explained that complaints centered on loud voices in the evening and night, such as during handovers and smoking breaks, plus a bathroom door without a spring that slammed shut loudly. "We needed a few days to take measures, he said. Kuin expects issues in Nieuwe Pekela to be resolved "very soon, but it remains unclear whether asylum seekers will need to sleep in Surhuisterveen in coming days. We have to wait and see every day, said De Vries, who did not rule out additional measures.