Police took to the streets of Dutch towns and cities in force on Tuesday night to try to prevent violent rioting that shook the country for three nights after a nationwide curfew was introduced to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Police in Rotterdam said they arrested 17 people for minor offences before the nightly curfew took effect at 9pm.
Riot police were stationed in the south and west of the city, but did not immediately report any major disturbances, local broadcaster Rijnmond reported.
In Amsterdam, riot police were sent to a commercial street where a large group of youths had gathered and set off fireworks, but there were no violent confrontations.
The rioting, which started with the burning of a coronavirus testing centre in a fishing village on Saturday night, is the worst to hit the Netherlands in years.
It was initially sparked by anger over a tough coronavirus lockdown that has been in force since mid-December.
But calls for rioting on social media, mainly spread among young people, increasingly fuelled the unrest.
Schools have been closed in the country since the Christmas holidays.
Police said on Tuesday afternoon that video images showed many rioters were young teenagers and that many of the people they arrested were picked up close to their homes.
“I join others in appealing to parents to keep their children at home. Certainly after 9pm, stay indoors,” said North Holland regional Police Chief Anja Schouten.
The violence has stretched the police and led at times to sending in military police.
On Monday night, rioters pelted police with rocks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails, and looted shops in at least two cities, Rotterdam and Den Bosch.
A total of 184 people were arrested in Monday night’s unrest.
Police fined more than 1,700 for breaching the 9pm to 4:30am curfew, which carries a fine of €95 ($115).
Officers around the country also detained dozens suspected of inciting rioting through social media.
Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus said earlier Tuesday that riots would quickly be brought before the courts and face possible prison terms if convicted.
“They won’t get away with it,” Mr Grapperhaus said in The Hague.
“If you rob people who are struggling, with the help of the government, to keep their head above water, it’s totally scandalous."
He said the curfew was necessary in the fight against the coronavirus.
Populist right-wing opposition politician Geert Wilders called for the army to be used to quell rioting, something the government has so far ruled out.
Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb posted a video message on Twitter, asking rioters: “Does it feel good to wake up with a bag full of stolen stuff next to you?”
Mr Aboutaleb appealed to parents of the young rioters, asking: “Did you miss your son yesterday? Did you ask yourself where he was?”
The municipality in Den Bosch designated large parts of the city as risk areas for Tuesday night, fearing a repeat of the violence.
Residents took to the streets Tuesday to help with the clean-up, and the city’s mayor said he would investigate authorities’ response to the rioting.
“This criminal violence must stop,” Prime Minister Mark Rutte tweeted. “The riots have nothing to do with protesting or struggling for freedom.
“We must win the battle against the virus together, because that’s the only way of getting back our freedom.”
The rate of new infections in Netherlands has been decreasing in recent weeks.
But the country’s public health institute warned on Tuesday that the new variant of the virus first detected in Britain is gaining ground and was probably responsible for more than a third of infections over the last week.
The country has registered more than 13,650 confirmed Covid-19 deaths.
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About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
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New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
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Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
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Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Tori Amos
Native Invader
Decca
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
