Netherlands: Police Attacked, Cars Torched as Rival Eritrean Migrant Factions Riot at The Hague

A police car burns at the Opera hall center following clashes between two groups of Eritre
ROBIN UTRECHT/ANP/AFP via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

Riots between rival factions of Eritrean migrants broke out in the Dutch city of The Hague on Saturday evening as police officers were left injured and cars were set on fire outside a conference centre.

The home of the war criminal trying International Criminal Court saw war zone-like scenes brought to its doorstep as supporters of the leftist government of Eritrean dictator Isaias Afwerki gathered in the Opera Hall Centre in The Hague’s city centre on Saturday evening.

A group of anti-government Eritreans gathered outside of the building in protest, however, it quickly devolved into open riots, with the anti-government faction smashing the windows of the hall and setting it on fire.

Riot police were dispatched to help protect the building from further damage and the pro-government Eritrean group within the conference centre were escorted from the building under police escort, Der Telegraaf reports.

Cashes between the two groups ensued and the riots continued to rage late into the evening, with several police and fire brigade vehicles being set ablaze and other privately owned cars being burnt during the altercations. Several officers and riot police were injured during clashes with the Eritrean mob, who took to pelting officers with stones.

The chairwoman of the Dutch Police Union (NPB) Nine Kooiman described the riots between the two groups of Eritreans as “devastating and too idiotic for words” and Ramon Meijerink of the ACP police union called them “completely unacceptable” while praising police officers for their “courage to step forward under difficult circumstances.”

The local fire brigade was initially prevented from putting out the fires because of the violence from the rioters. A spokesman said: “We initially received a report of a police car that was on fire. We had to withdraw because the situation was not safe. Later, a police van was also on fire at the hall complex.

“There we got stuck and were pelted, damaging vehicles and forcing us to withdraw. We then placed fences on the windows of our vehicles so that we could still extinguish the fires.”

It is not the first time the Netherlands has witnessed riots break out among rivalling groups of Eritrean migrants, with last May seeing a large brawl in the city of Rijswijk, forcing riot police to respond. Similar conflicts among Eritreans have been witnessed in Sweden and in Germany, with dozens being arrested in Stuttgart in September after clashes broke out at an Eritrean cultural festival in the city.

According to government estimates, there are currently approximately 27,000 Eritrean nationals living in The Netherlands, the vast majority of whom are typically young military-age males who often flee the East African nation to avoid being conscripted into the armed forces.

The mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen said the violence against police officers was “horrible and unacceptable,” adding: “The Public Prosecution Service has set up a Large-Scale Investigation Team to prosecute perpetrators of these disorders. I would like to ask everyone who can contribute to the rapid detection of the perpetrators of this unacceptable and unnecessary violence to cooperate.”

Geert Wilders, the anti-mass migration populist who is in talks to become the next Dutch prime minister, said of the riots: “The Netherlands is really sick of it. Why is half the world allowed in here to tear down our country, fight mutual feuds, throw stones at police officers and set their cars on fire? I want to become the prime minister who finally puts things in order.”

Follow Kurt Zindulka on X: or e-mail to: kzindulka@breitbart.com

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