Stupor and discouragement in the Netherlands at the curfew riots

The rejection of the curfew imposed since Saturday by the Government of the Netherlands to try to contain coronavirus infections has led to riots that have resulted in almost 500 arrests throughout the national territory and 10 police officers injured in Rotterdam.

Monday's was the third night in a row with stores looting, burning vehicles and assaults on law enforcement agencies by hundreds of people.

The riots have generated stupor and indignation among the political class and the Executive has made it clear that it will not yield to the violent.

The country woke up this Tuesday with two contrasting images after three days of riots, which began when the acting center-right government imposed a night curfew to try to contain the advance of the new strain of the virus that emerged in the United Kingdom.

On the one hand, the photos and videos of groups looting shops in the heat of burning cars stand out;

on the other, the residents of the town of Den Bosch, birthplace of the painter El Bosco, planted broom in hand in the street to collect the waste left behind by the violent.

The police maintain that the majority of the population respects a measure that restricts freedom of movement from 9:00 p.m. to 4:45 a.m.

It does not seem to them that the individuals, mostly young people, who have already tried to launch themselves against two hospitals exercise the constitutional right to show their discontent.

The government led by Mark Rutte resigned on January 15 for a scandal related to public aid for childcare, and is supported by Parliament to combat the pandemic.

The Executive has reiterated that it does not intend to lift the curfew.

And it has requested the support of the public for its fulfillment.

Although the exhaustion and confusion in the face of a health emergency that does not remit is palpable, the caliber of the revolt has surprised everyone, city councils and deputies included.

Ahmed Aboutaleb, Rotterdam's Social Democratic mayor, has called the groups that rampaged through the southern district of the city "shameless thieves" on Monday.

In a recording addressed to the assailants on Tuesday, he told them: “What do you think of having destroyed your city? What have you done with what was stolen?

You like to wake up with the loot stolen from the place that has seen you grow up ”.

When the police charges against the violent reached the international news, the pandemic in the country had already accumulated 952,950 infections and 13,579 deaths.

With ten of its officers injured in Rotterdam, the national police have also spoken clearly.

“The riots over the rejection of the curfew have nothing to do with the constitutional right to demonstrate.

All my respect to colleagues who have been forced to restore order in such difficult circumstances, ”tweeted Henk van Essen, head of the corps.

Hours earlier, one of his agents had to shoot into the air when he was surrounded with his companions by the crowd.

A journalist received a stone on the head from behind.

As already happened during the weekend, the call to concentrate on Monday was made through the Internet, and at night the sequence of events was repeated.

In cities such as Amsterdam, The Hague, Haarlem, Den Bosch, Breda, Tilburg, Geleen, Almelo or Zwolle, projectiles flew against the police and cars were burned while the actions of the hooded attackers were captured by others with their mobile phones .

The railway traffic had to be stopped for a few hours in Den Bosch, where the concentrates were looting in different establishments in the city center, which the City Council described as "a sadness".

To sketch the profile of those exalted, police investigators track their contacts and the messages exchanged on social media inciting violence.

Although it is not definitive, young people stand out, and men who reach the quarantine, who encourage attacking the forces of order with gasoline, benzene and firecrackers, in some cases.

Police stations have received multiple phone calls informing them of other calls to assault the streets through the instant messaging application Telegram.

The Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office has asked parents to keep their minor children at home, because the images captured by the police cameras show teenagers of about 14 years.

The looting has been demoralizing.

Non-essential shops and schools have been closed since December, bars and restaurants since October, and not all shops attacked can cope with the damage equally.

On a street in Rotterdam, the Hema department store chain covered up its windows, and so do smaller stores in other cities, large and small.

Several deputies have also expressed their astonishment at events that they find difficult to associate with their country.

"Until now, looting was something from other places and it hurts," said Christian Democrat Wytske Postma.

Other colleagues have criticized "the trail of destruction" left in their wake by the crowd and have asked that they refrain from attacking police officers and journalists.

“This is not the Netherlands we know.

Violence has no place in democracy and it will never be a form of expression, ”said Khadija Arib, president of the Congress.

A parliamentary debate is expected to take place on Wednesday to address the unrest.

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