Netherlands vows to keep Covid curfew in place following more riots

A worker boards up broken windows of supermarket in Rotterdam

Credit: MARCO DE SWART/ANP/AFP via Getty Images

The unrest since the imposition of a 9pm to 4.30am nightly curfew on Saturday has been the worst in four decades, when police had a series of battles with illegal squatters, according to police union chief Koen Simmers. Although the Dutch response to the coronavirus had been characterised by a light touch, the parliament agreed a controversial curfew amid fears that the British variant would cause a third wave and overrun intensive care units.

The government has taken a strong, united front to the violence, which is thought to have been perpetrated by a mixture of coronavirus deniers, political protesters and opportunists spoiling for a fight.

Caretaker justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus has warned that rioters will face court and possible prison terms rather than a standard €95 coronavirus fine.

A man stands by a damaged container on January 26 in Rotterdam 

Credit: KOEN VAN WEEL/ANP/AFP via Getty Images

He told reporters in The Hague on Tuesday: “They won’t get away with it. If you rob people who are struggling, with the help of government, to keep their heads above water, it is totally scandalous,” he said.

A spokesman for the national police told The Telegraph that more than 400 people had been arrested, around 250 on Sunday and 184 on Monday night. More arrests are expected to follow as police study video footage and internet messages, and respond to tips.

The public reaction to the violence has been horror, especially after rioters on Sunday night pelted the windows of a hospital in Enschede with stones and on Saturday night in the small, conservative and Protestant village of Urk, set a coronavirus testing unit on fire.

Widespread copycat riots on Monday night included looting in Den Bosch, groups throwing fireworks in The Hague district of Schilderswijk and people trying to push over a police bus in Amsterdam. Some of the worst violence occurred in south Rotterdam, with police using a water cannon and helicopters and firing a warning shot. Ten police were reportedly injured.

But on Tuesday morning in Den Bosch, local people got together on social media groups to clear up the streets themselves, and one crowdfunding action raised €30,000 to help repair a local Primera stationery shop.