First suspect arrested for vigilante border controls against asylum seekers

A 54-year-old man from the municipality of Emmen was arrested on Friday for conducting border controls as a civilian without legal authority. The alleged vigilante is suspected of ambtsdwang, the practice of attempting to extort or coerce public officials and civil servants. Prosecutors allege he organized these vigilante-style inspections in an attempt to force the government to respond with more official border patrols, which is a criminal offense in the Netherlands.

According to RTV Drenthe, the man is Jan H. from Nieuw-Weerdinge, who initiated the civilian border controls and the founder of a large Whatsapp group that called on people to take action. On his Facebook page, H. wrote in two messages on Friday that the police were on their way to him to make an arrest. This came after he had published an ultimatum to police, in which he stated that 20 times as many civilians would join in the border controls if the police did not respond to his ultimatum by 4 p.m. This likely led to the arrest from the police.

Groups of civilians have been conducting unauthorized border controls by Ter Apel and Sellingen, near the German border, over the last few weeks. The mayor and heads of the regional offices of the Public Prosecution Service and district police responded to the incidents in a statement.

“We see that there is dissatisfaction in society about asylum policy. Groups have emerged that want to take the law into their own hands and are carrying out checks on vehicles and individuals at the border themselves. That is unacceptable,” they said. “Border control is the responsibility of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, not of individual citizens. That is why we are taking action. There is no room for vigilantism.”

The suspect was previously warned by police that he had to stop the border controls. The police stated that calls for border controls are being “carefully monitored. Action will be taken in any cases in which criminal offenses occur, such as checks by civilians, incitement, threats, discrimination, or attempted coercion of public authorities.”

It is not the first time that H. has had run-ins with the law. Last year, he was convicted of slander and inciting violent behavior after asking his Facebook followers to help return children to their parents if they had been taken from their homes due to the childcare benefits scandal. In doing so, H. called for the removal of these children from the legal custody imposed by the court.

In 2021, H. was also fined €500 for dangerous driving during a protest convoy on the A28 highway.