Riot at Belgian asylum centre
Up to seventy asylum seekers were involved in a clash at the reception centre for refugees in Arendonk in the Antwerp Kempen District on Tuesday. Nobody was injured in the fracas, but one staff member had to be taken to hospital as a precaution.
Achive photo
The centre offers a temporary home for people seeking asylum in Belgium.
The centre's director Joan Ramakers said that the trigger for the clash was pretty banal. However, the dispute turned into "a mass event extremely quickly".
"We informed the police. It was very fortunate that they arrived on the scene with eight police vans. Staff identified six individuals who did unacceptable things. They have been removed. We have to show that violence will not be tolerated on any account."