Anti-asylum demonstrators turned against the police and started throwing fireworks in the Gelderland town of Opheusden on Thursday evening. The riot police intervened and arrested more than ten people, NOS reported.

The municipality of Neder-Betuwe was holding a public meeting on asylum reception at the town hall in Opheusden. The Asylum Distribution Act requires the municipality to take in 132 asylum seekers, including eight unaccompanied children. The municipal councilors were discussing the options. No decision was to be made.

Several hundred demonstrators gathered at the town hall while the councilors met. According to the police, the atmosphere outside turned hostile as the evening progressed. Protesters turned against the police and started throwing fireworks.

The police called in the riot police, who carried out charges and arrested over ten people. Calm had “largely returned” by the end of the evening, and the council members, who had been trapped inside the building, were then able to leave.