Refugee shelter in Netherlands assaulted, 11 suspects arrested

Eleven suspects were arrested by police after an emergency shelter for refugees in Woerden, the Netherlands, were assaulted on Friday, police said Saturday.

A group of around 20 men broke through the barricades around 10:30 p.m., throwing fireworks and eggs and trying to invade a gym hall used as emergency shelter, but did not succeed in entering the building. The men were all dressed in black and had forage caps on.

The shelter security called the police, after which the suspects started fleeing. A total of 11 people were arrested by the police and are currently being held for questioning.

All men aged between 19 and 30 from towns in the region, they are, among other things, accused of public violence, police said.

Since Wednesday the sports hall in Woerden, in the province of Utrecht, has been used as crisis emergency shelter for 150 refugees, mainly families from Syria and Eritrea. It seemed that the refugees were not generally welcomed by local people as there were banners and texts on walls protesting against the arrival of the asylum seekers.

"Sad scenes in Woerden," State Secretary for Security and Justice Klaas Dijkhoff reacted through his Twitter account. "Violence is unacceptable. The perpetrators must be punished hard. Refugees and residents should be safe."

With hundreds of refugees currently reaching the Netherlands each day, the reception centers, already housing 36,254 asylum seekers by the end of September this year, have almost reached the limits of their capacity.

Municipalities and provinces were urged to help, but the establishment of local emergency shelters stirred some hostile reactions from inhabitants. Endit