Limited turnout for 'yellow vests' protests in Netherlands; only three arrests

While "yellow vests" protests resulted in 500 arrests in Paris and 400 in Brussels, the protests in the Netherlands were much quieter. The largest protests only had around 200 participants, and only three people were arrested in Amsterdam, RTL Nieuws reports.

Around 200 yellow vests protested in Amsterdam on Saturday. Three of them were arrested for insults, carrying a torch and possession of fireworks and two knives, according to the broadcaster. The official plan for the demonstration was to march around the Stopera, Amsterdam's city hall. But around half of the protesters decided to extend the demonstration and march to Dam square. The police allowed this, but kept a close eye on the group.

According to AT5, the Amsterdam yellow vests did not have a common message, only a general sense of dissatisfaction about the state of the Netherlands. Protesters' reason for joining the demonstration varied across all fields, including the teacher shortage, immigration policy, and healthcare.

The Rotterdam protest also saw around 200 yellow vests participating. They marched from the Willemsplein over the Erasmus bridge and back. Here too there was no single reason for the demonstration. Protesters told the Volkskrant that they were there because the Netherlands should leave the European Union, because of the culling of red deer in nature reserve Oostvaardersplassen, because one's daughter-in-law can't afford to stay home with her new child, because of the increasing gap between rich and poor, because of the overheating housing market, and because politicians must do more for the citizen and less for big business.

The Volkskrant also noticed that the vast majority of Rotterdam yellow vests were older, native Dutch. There was only one participant under the age of 40, and only one protester had an immigration background.

The Maastricht yellow vests protest also had some 200 participants. They gathered in front of the MVV stadium and handed out pamphlets with slogans like 'Let us fight together for the future of our grandchildren' and 'You can break a finger, but not a fist'. There were a large number of police officers at the protest, but they did not have to intervene.

Some 100 yellow vests protested in The Hague, according to RTL. The protest was mostly calm with people taking turns to air their grievances, though the police did have to prevent a spontaneous plan to march onto the Binnenhof.

The demonstrations in other cities had fewer participants: around 50 yellow vests in Leeuwarden, about 30 in Nijmegen and some 40 in Eindhoven.