Outside Groups and Local Youth
Kottelenberg said it looks very much as though splinter groups from elsewhere are driving the trouble. Once they arrive, he explained, they push local young people into joining in serious violence. He also pointed to social media, where false information spreads quickly, and people dig in their heels.

It was a worrying thing to watch, he said.

Authorities have been accused of ignoring residents, but the mayor sees it differently. Listening is hard to do, he said, when someone throws a Cobra firecracker at your head.



A Call for Calm and Conversation
The mayor still hopes common sense will win out. He wants talks to begin with residents, business owners, associations and churches about where asylum seekers can be housed. In his view, people should speak with one another, but more importantly, they should really listen, ask questions and work with the municipality to find answers.



Kottelenberg has been mayor for nearly ten years, and he said that time has shown him a different side of the community. Residents have repeatedly come together to solve local problems, and despite their differences, they have looked out for each other in hard moments. The riots of recent weeks, he said, do not match that picture at all.



A Wider Pattern
The situation in Neder Betuwe is not unique. Research has shown that more than 40 percent .