Chaos in the Netherlands: Hundreds of African migrants provoke riots in The Hague
Last Saturday night, hundreds of illegal immigrants provoked a major riot in the Netherlands. In the city of The Hague, a large group of migrants from Eritrea invaded the Opera House, resorting to physical violence with bricks and stones.
As reported by numerous local media, this group of Africans, gathered around the “Brgedb Nhamedu” movement, even set fire to containers and police cars in the vicinity of the Opera Zalencentrum, in what soon turned into a pitched battle.
By all accounts, the violence erupted when a group of supporters of the current Eritrean government, led by Isais Afwerki, attempted to gain access to the Opera House, where an Eritrean opposition community was holding a start-of-year meeting. As the spokesman for the Federative van Eritrese Gemeenschappen said, the recent clashes in the Tigray region have also increased tensions among African immigrants, who make up a large percentage of the Dutch population.
As the confrontation has escalated, Dutch police have been forced to use tear gas to deter the attackers, while advising people to stay away from the opera district. In addition, an unprecedented police deployment is still in place in the main streets of The Hague.
There is every indication that these episodes will not be isolated, and residents of the Dutch city fear an escalation in Eritrean clashes. In fact, the authorities are expected to take control measures to prevent further unrest, including road closures. This was explained by the mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen, who in the early hours of the morning declared a state of emergency in the city’s most vandalised neighbourhoods, marked by the presence of hundreds of illegal immigrants.
