Rotterdam asylum protesters throw rocks at police, destroy squad cars

An information evening in Rotterdam about plans to open an asylum center in the neighborhood Beverwaard on Thursday night, ended with three people arrested for throwing stones at police officers and destroying squad cars. A tent was set up in the neighborhood so that Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb, police chief Frank Paauw and Janet Helder, director of the COA, could give local residents information about the planned asylum center and answer questions. The asylum center will be built on Edo Bergsmaweg and will accommodate up to 600 refugees for five years. It is scheduled to open next year. The tent soon reached its maximum capacity and about 100 people were left standing outside, according to broadcaster NOS. The large turnout may be attributed to party Leefbaar Rotterdam's call to protest against the center. Tempers were running high. Mayor Aboutaleb had to call a 5 minute recess shortly after the meeting started to calm things down. He was unable to get a word in over angry residents' shouts of "You bastard!", "Shut up" and "Step down!", according to NRC. Even after the recess Aboutaleb had to call on people to speak one at a time and let each other finish. Restlessness reigned outside the tent too. "Things are just getting better in Beverwaard, but it remains a problem area: unemployment, crime. Now you're adding problem people. A blind horse can see that things will go wrong", Martin Dijkhuizen, organizer of the protest, said to NRC. The riot police had to come into action a number of times to prevent angry residents getting too close to the tent. After the meeting, a small group of people threw stones at the police. They then moved to a nearby gas station where they damaged police vehicles. The police arrested three people. https://twitter.com/Politie_Rdam/status/654756245199413248 https://twitter.com/jaapdenouden/status/654907435782688768 https://twitter.com/refdag/status/654759302373072896 https://twitter.com/johanna_nouri/status/654730151662514176