Protests against COVID-19 in the Netherlands () were a series of

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

s and

riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

s in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

against the government COVID-19 prevention measures, which were in force between 27 January 2020 and 20 May 2022, with travel restrictions lifted on 17 September 2022. The protests came to a head with the 2021 Dutch curfew riots () in response to a nationwide night-time curfew between 23 January and 28 April 2021. Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands, a number of anti-lockdown protest groups and individual protesters have shifted their attention to the ongoing, largely concurrent

Dutch farmers' protests The Dutch farmers' protests ( nl, boerenprotesten) are a series of demonstrations by Dutch livestock farmers, characterised by the use of tractors to block roads, and occupy public spaces. The protests were initially triggered in October 2019 by ...

against government legislation to limit agricultural pollution by downsizing livestock production.

Background

The proposal to introduce a nationwide curfew to curb the spread of the

coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

(COVID-19) had been put on the table by the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) as early as September 2020, but did not gain the support of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

at the time, because of its strong association with

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Four months later, however, the measure was deemed necessary as the number of infections was not declining fast enough, despite the fact that the Netherlands had been in a full lockdown since 14 December 2020. Furthermore, the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant of the virus continued to spread across the country, raising concerns for a potential "third wave" of infections. Demissionary

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006. After a business career working for Unilever ...

announced his plan to introduce a 20:30–4:30 curfew at a

press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

on 20 January 2021. On 21 January, a majority in the

voted to support the proposal, after a

motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...

to postpone the curfew to 21:00 had been adopted. The curfew would be in effect from 23 January to at least 10 February 2021. Non-violent protests against the government's COVID-19 prevention measures had taken place on several occasions prior to the announcement of the curfew. However, on 24 January 2021, illegal demonstrations against the curfew in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

, leading to riots in other places as well. The next major waves of violent protests in 2021 took place in The

Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

in mid-March and in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

in mid-November. In early 2022, a new wave of violence hit Amsterdam when police used police dogs, injuring several anti-lockdown opponents who clashed with police. Pictures of a police dog biting one of the protesters by the left arm while a police officer tries to restrain a rabid animal have traveled the world via video and social networks, with strong public condemnation for excessive use of force against public gatherings.

Timeline

2021

17 January

Riots 23–26 January

During the first night of the curfew, the police issued 3,600 fines for being outside after 21:00 without a valid reason. Anti-lockdown protesters and

conspiracy theorists A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

gathered in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...

IJmuiden IJ_(digraph).html" ;"title="n IJ (digraph)">n IJ (digraph) and that should remain the only places where they are used. > IJmuiden () is a port city in the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland. It is the main town in the municipality ...

and

Stein Stein is a German, Yiddish and Norwegian word meaning "stone" and "pip" or "kernel". It stems from the same Germanic root as the English word stone. It may refer to: Places In Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Austr ...

to demonstrate. On

Urk Urk () is a municipality and a town in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. Urk is first mentioned in historical records dating to the 10th century, when it was still an island in the Zuiderzee, an inland sea that would become part ...

, a former island in the province of

Flevoland Flevoland () is the twelfth and youngest province of the Netherlands, established in 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders, together with the Noordoostpolder, were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the countr ...

, groups of youths began to riot in protest against the curfew. The rioters vandalised

police car A police car (also called a police cruiser, police interceptor, patrol car, area car, cop car, prowl car, squad car, radio car, or radio motor patrol) is a ground vehicle used by police and law enforcement for transportation during patrols a ...

s, and threw stones and

fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

s. Later that evening, a COVID-19 testing site of the

Municipal Health Service In the European Netherlands, a Municipal Health Service (, GGD) is a decentralised public health organisation. Legally, the responsibility for the provision of this service lies with the municipalities. However, in practice, the municipalities wo ...

(GGD) was set on fire. Two suspects have subsequently been arrested. On 24 January in the afternoon, hundreds of protesters gathered on

Museumplein The Museumplein (; ) is a public space in the Museumkwartier neighbourhood of the Amsterdam-Zuid borough in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Located at the Museumplein are three major museums – the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, and Stedelijk Museum � ...

, despite the fact that Mayor

Femke Halsema Femke Halsema (; born 25 April 1966) is a Dutch politician and filmmaker. On 27 June 2018, she was appointed Mayor of Amsterdam and began serving a six-year term on 12 July 2018. She is the first woman to hold the position on a non-interim bas ...

, the

chief police officer In the United Kingdom, a chief police officer is the most senior police officer in a police force. The chief police officers are the 53 Chief Constables, the Commissioner of the City of London Police and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Poli ...

and the chief public prosecutor had prohibited the demonstration. The police used

water cannon A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining ...

s and police dogs to disperse the crowd, in response to which the protesters began throwing firework bombs towards police officers. Similarly, in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,golf ball A golf ball is a special ball designed to be used in the game of golf. Under the rules of golf, a golf ball has a mass no more than , has a diameter not less than , and performs within specified velocity, distance, and symmetry limits. Like g ...

s, fireworks and knives. They also set vehicles on fire and

looted Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

a supermarket in the city's

central station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

. According to

ProRail ProRail () is a Dutch government organisation responsible for the maintenance and extension of the national railway network infrastructure (not the metro or tram), the allocation of rail capacity, and controlling rail traffic. Prorail is a part o ...

, hundreds of thousands of euros in damage was inflicted to the railway station. In the evening, riots also took place in

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

Helmond Helmond (; called ''Héllemond'' in the local dialect) is a city and municipality in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the province of North Brabant in the Southern Netherlands. Helmond is home to several textile and metal companies. The Vlisco fa ...

Roermond Roermond (; li, Remunj or ) is a city, municipality, and diocese in the Limburg province of the Netherlands. Roermond is a historically important town on the lower Roer on the east bank of the river Meuse. It received town rights in 1231. Roer ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

and

Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherland ...

. In Enschede, rioters attempted to break the windows of the local hospital,

Medisch Spectrum Twente The Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST) is the hospital of the city of Enschede. It is a top-clinical center offering secondary and limited tertiary care. Facilities The hospitals has a license for 1070 beds, over 200 medical specialists and circa 4000 ...

. More than 300 people were arrested. 150 people were arrested during the night from 25 to 26 January in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Shops were looted and vandalized. The cities of Den Bosch, Zwolle, Amersfoort, Alkmaar, Hoorn, Gouda, Haarlem, and Veenendaal experienced troubles, including cars being burned and police attacked with stones. Den Bosch, Sittard-Geleen, Stein and Capelle aan den IJssel issued an emergency decree for the upcoming night. Beek and Echt-Susteren will have an emergency decree until the 10th of February, which will allow the police to do stop-and-frisk without reason. Zwolle declared an emergency order, which is one step below an emergency decree in Dutch law. Dutch police designated Den Bosch, Almelo en Haarlem as potential hotspots. The Ikazia Hospital in Rotterdam also advised its patients not to come during the evening hours, as police designated the nearby Zuidplein as a potential hotspot. The riots that took place on 26 January were less heavy than the previous days. Despite some small riots in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

, and some disturbances in The Hague,

Schijndel Schijndel () is a town and former municipality in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. Schijndel is located approximately southeast of 's-Hertogenbosch. Schijndel was founded on 6 December in the year 1309. On 1 January 201 ...

and

Julianadorp Julianadorp, is a town in North Holland, Netherlands. It is part of the municipality of Den Helder. It lies about 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) south of the town of Den Helder, north of the municipality of Schagen and west of Hollands Kroon. ...

, the situation in these six cities and villages was under control within about an hour. Many cities also saw massive support coming from their locals. Cities such as Maastricht, saw its hardcore fanbase of its local football club, the angel side, gather as a reaction to the threats made by supposed rioters. A couple hundred supporters marched through the city, eventually making their way to the city centre to make a statement: "we will not tolerate destruction and looting". Most of them went home around 21.00 to adhere to the curfew rules.

From 26 January to 14 March

On 27 January, there were no major riots, only small disturbances in The Hague and Rotterdam. In Rotterdam a theatre was set on fire. Apart from a relatively large group of youths who were shooting fireworks in

Tiel Tiel () is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands. The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the East. Tiel comprises the population centres Kapel- ...

, there were no more riots or disturbances reported throughout the Netherlands as of 28 January. On 31 January, protests against the curfew were held in Amsterdam and

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. It is located about 60 km east of Utrecht, 60 km west of Enschede, 25 km north of Arnhem and 35 km south of Zwolle. The ...

. There were no major riots, but dozens of people were arrested after the police had ended the demonstrations.

Riots in The Hague 14 March

Riots in Amsterdam 20 March

Riots in Rotterdam 19–21 November

In November 2021, the government proposed implementing the "2G rule", a measure to only allow individuals who are vaccinated (''gevaccineerd'') or have recovered from a COVID-19 infection (''genezen'') from being able to enter hotels, restaurants, cafes, cultural and artistic places, and events, and to use non-essential services. On November 19, a protest against the 2G rule was announced on social media, which turned into a riot. The police shot several people. Most notably, riots occurred in

, where 51 people were arrested. There were also riots in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

and

. The authorities used

s, police dogs and

mounted police Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. Their day-to-day function is typically picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and increasingly in the ...

against the rioters. Three rioters were seriously injured when police opened fire on them, while a fourth suffered minor injuries. Additionally, four rioters and five police officers sustained minor injuries during the unrest. Peaceful protests also took place in

and

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

2022

Riots in Amsterdam on 2 January

On January 2, 2022, the intervention police with batons and shields tried to break up the crowd of several thousand that gathered on Sunday in the Dutch capital to protest against the measures of closure and vaccination of COVID-19. Videos on social media showed one man try and escape a police dog biting his hand and in other clips showed chaos unfold as crowds ran around the city.

=Controversy over the excessive use of force

The end of the protests and the lifting of the COVID-19 measures

From March 23, 2022, EU citizens can enter the country without any restrictions. Anyone with regular residence in the Netherlands can also travel without restrictions, which includes the cultural exchange program. Masks are optional. On September 17, all Covid measures were lifted.

Reactions

Demissionary Prime Minister,

, told reporters that the recent events "have nothing to do with protests, this is criminal violence and we will treat it as such". Minister of Finance

Wopke Hoekstra Wopke Bastiaan Hoekstra (born 30 September 1975) is a Dutch politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands, second Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and List of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Minist ...

said that the riots will not make the government "capitulate to a few idiots". Minister of Justice and Security

Ferdinand Grapperhaus Ferdinand Bernhard Joseph "Ferd" Grapperhaus (born 8 November 1959) is a Dutch politician who served as Minister of Justice and Security in the Third Rutte cabinet from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022. He is a member of the Christian Democ ...

said the same. "Apparently small groups find it necessary to riot. But that is not because of the corona policy, because you don't have to loot a shop for that", he said. Grapperhaus added that the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

and

Koninklijke Marechaussee The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee ( nl, Koninklijke Marechaussee, abbreviated to KMar) is the national gendarmerie force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, performing military and civilian police duties. It is also one of the two national poli ...

are cracking down on the rioters. They will be subject to summary judgment and can face unconditional prison sentences. MPs

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (; born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the Party for Freedom (''Partij voor de Vrijheid'' – PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives (''Tweede Kamer'' ...

and

Jesse Klaver Jesse Feras Klaver (born 1 May 1986) is a Dutch politician serving as a member of the House of Representatives since 2010 and Leader of GroenLinks since 2015. Prior to this, he chaired the youth union of the Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond from ...

, of the

Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...

and

GroenLinks GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...

respectively, accused each other of inciting the riots. Jesse Klaver accused Geert Wilders of inciting the people to riot, while Geert Wilders demanded Jesse Klaver to remove his party's rank and file from the Schilderswijk, a neighbourhood where the riots happened. The mayor of

Ahmed Aboutaleb Ahmed Aboutaleb ( ar, أحمد أبو طالب; born 29 August 1961) is a Dutch politician of Moroccan origin, he is of the Labour Party (PvdA) and a journalist. He has been the Mayor of Rotterdam since 5 January 2009. Early life and career ...

released a video in which he directly addressed the rioters. He asked if they felt proud to have destroyed their own hometown and promising them police will crack down on them. He went on to applaud the real heroes of the city's history, that rebuilt the city after the Rotterdam Blitz instead of destroying it. To the entrepreneurs whose establishments were damaged he promised to work together with insurance companies to support them. A spokesperson of the

Dutch armed forces The Netherlands Armed Forces ( nl, Nederlandse krijgsmacht) are the military services of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The core of the armed forces consists of the four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Navy (), the Royal Netherlands Ar ...

stated that the

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...

has not yet been asked to help curb the riots. However, if the armed forces are asked to help "it would be limited to logistical and material support". Geert Wilders submitted a law proposal enabling the army to assist law enforcement, however, the proposal failed to receive any support aside from his own party, the PVV.

References

{{Reflist, 2 2021 in the Netherlands 2021 protests 2022 in the Netherlands 2022 protests COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands January 2021 events in the Netherlands January 2022 events in the Netherlands Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic