Far-right group Defend rapidly expanding in the Netherlands

The far-right group Defend is rapidly expanding in the Netherlands, according to research by Pointer and the Justice for Prosperity Foundation. Since the anti-immigration protest on the Malieveld in The Hague escalated into riots on September 20 last year, dozens of extremist Defend groups have emerged.

There are at least 35 groups attending anti-asylum seeker protests throughout the country, Pointer reported. The groups publicly distance themselves from the far-right label, but Defend members share right-wing extremist and Nazi symbolism online and wear hate symbols in public.

Pointer and Justice for Prosperity, which investigates the undermining of democracy, examined 29 demonstrations against immigration or the opening of an asylum shelter since the Malieveld protest in September last year. Defend members were demonstrably present at 21 of those protests, visibly wearing clothing identifying themselves and members of Defend Den Haag, Defend Staphorts, Defend Nederland, among others.

The researchers identified a total of 35 Defend groups. According to Pointer, they often join forces to be present at anti-asylum protests in all corners of the country. The protest groups are also visible online. Before September 20, Pointer identified two Defend groups. Since then, 35 new groups have emerged online, all connected to one another.

In February, the Defend groups posted a joint statement, distancing themselves from the far-right label. “These groups do not arise to polarize or disrupt, but from a growing sense that fundamental concerns are structurally insufficiently heard within the public and political debate. It is concerning that these initiatives are regularly dismissed as extreme or linked to movements with which they have no ties whatsoever."

But according to the researchers, Defend members regularly share far-right, racist, anti-Semitic, and Naxi content on the Defend Nederland channel, which has some 3,000 members. Among other things, they call refugees “monkeys,” and talk about the “leftist scum that must be exterminated.”

The researchers also found such content on social media. In August 2025, for example, the word “remigration” appeared in large letters on Defend Nederland’s Facebook profile. Defend members also display hate symbols in public. Prominent Defend Nederland member Peter van Vleit, for example, was previously arrested for wearing an NSDAP shirt, for example.

Defend Nederland did not respond to the researchers’ questions, Pointer reported.