A letter containing a bullet has been sent to a local council in Noord-Brabant province in what is thought to be another protest about the location of a refugee centre.

The text of the letter sent to Bernheze council has not been made public, but according to news agency ANP it focuses on plans to set up a refugee centre in Heesch. Heesch is one of the villages which make up the Bernheze district.

Riot police were brought in to break up a protest in Heesch earlier this week, and last week two dead pigs were dumped at the proposed asylum seekers centre location.

The letter and bullet are now undergoing police forensic tests.

Fire

Meanwhile, a Syrian asylum seeker who has been living in a refugee centre in Zaandam tried to set himself on fire, the Noordhollands Dagblad reports.

The incident was filmed and the video placed on line but it is unclear from the report by who.

In it, the man is said to be heard screaming that he wants to see his children. They are in Turkey and not allowed to travel on to the Netherlands, the paper says. Fellow residents put out the fire and the man has now been taken to a psychiatric hospital.

Emergency accommodation

The refugee settlement agency COA said on Thursday the last emergency shelter will close at the end of the month.

Some 141 exhibition centres, sports halls and other buildings have been used to house refugees for a maximum of 72 hours since the sharp rise in the number of new arrivals last summer.

From next week, new asylum seekers will be housed in the established refugee centres and 34 temporary centres. This includes ‘camps’ in Nijmegen, Zaandam, and Apeldoorn, COA says.