Far-right Defend groups are growing rapidly and travelling across the Netherlands to influence local decision-making, including around asylum seeker centres (AZCs). Far-right Defend groups undermine democracy. They travel across the Netherlands to pressure local municipalities over asylum seeker centres. Our research shows these are not isolated actions, but part of a deliberate strategy to exert pressure on political and administrative processes at the local level. A voice message from an administrator of the Defend Netherlands Telegram group makes this explicit. Stichting Justice for Prosperity and Pointer (KRO-NCRV) investigated these groups in depth and uncovered far-right content and veiled calls for violence.
Who are these people?
The Defend movement consists of two umbrella organisations: Defend United and Defend Netherlands. Defend United originated from Defend Den Bosch and has multiple local chapters affiliated with it. Stichting Justice for Prosperity and Pointer examined the communication, dynamics and structure of this movement and established that the network expanded rapidly in a short period of time. The investigation has so far identified 35 components of the network.
Defend Netherlands is different. The group appears to have been founded in the summer of 2025, roughly seven weeks before the riots on the Malieveld last year. The investigation also reveals that prominent figures within Defend Netherlands have prior run-ins with police and the justice system. One was arrested for wearing an NSDAP shirt; another was convicted of incitement during a protest.
Both groups frequently operate together. Key figures from Defend Netherlands and Defend United regularly appear at the same demonstrations and share and like each other’s posts online. Multiple sources confirm the groups maintain close contact.
Local influence as a deliberate strategy
Justice for Prosperity and Pointer established that Defend members attended at least 21 local anti-AZC or anti-migration demonstrations. Recent examples include demonstrations in Nieuw-Lekkerland, Bleskensgraaf and Houten. Voice recordings confirm this fits a deliberate strategy:
“If you stand at a small demo outside a town hall, where the decision-making actually happens, you have far more impact on whether an asylum centre comes or not.”
An administrator of the Defend Netherlands Telegram group sent this voice message on 25 November 2025. It captures precisely how Defend wants to operate: show up at local demonstrations where it can make a real difference. A handful of shouting people has far greater impact outside a small town hall than in the middle of an empty Malieveld.
Extremist content and (veiled) calls for violence
The movement presents itself publicly as peaceful, but internal communications tell a different story. Justice for Prosperity and Pointer found openly racist and antisemitic messages from active members and key figures. Asylum seekers are compared to apes. Jewish people are dismissed as unwanted. Muslims are described as “the cancer of the world.” One person who frequently operates alongside Defend publicly describes himself as “NSBer 2.0” and poses in photos wearing a beanie bearing the number 88, a well-known neo-Nazi symbol. The movement only intervenes when Nazi ideology becomes too visibly public.
Veiled calls for violence
In Telegram conversations, anonymous members openly conclude that violence works. A key figure within Defend Netherlands questions on Facebook whether peaceful protesting serves any purpose at all. It goes further. Members call for opponents to be eliminated and suggest going “on the hunt.” Another member’s profile reads: “Violence is the last resort for the people and the fatherland.”
The threat of violence becomes concrete when Defend key figure P.v.V. posts on Facebook that he tracked down a home address, promising to knock the teeth out of the resident, someone with left-wing views. Several Defend groups shared this post. Earlier statements by P.v.V. are as chilling as they are matter-of-fact: “Where violence is used, asylum centres don’t go ahead.” Anonymous members in the Telegram group echo this: “I notice that almost everywhere a demo gets out of hand, no asylum centre has been built.” The response: “Exactly, intimidation simply works. You don’t think we throw fireworks out of mischief, do you? A few bangers in the council chamber and those cowardly [antisemitic slur] eat out of your hand.”
Professionalisation
The Defend movement’s strategy is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Members now also use the public speaking rights at council meetings. They do not only join the demonstrators outside; inside town halls they make themselves heard by exercising their right to address council meetings. In November 2025, Defend Netherlands posted a call looking for “stars who want to address councils together with us.” While representatives speak inside, demonstrators gather outside to apply additional pressure. One key figure has addressed council meetings in Uitgeest and Lisse, among other places, with barely concealed threats. In Uitgeest, he openly observed that municipalities where unrest had occurred subsequently changed their policy, and that those who want to avoid unrest had better listen.
In Lisse, the same key figure demanded a referendum, closing with: “Time will tell which side of history you stood on.” This is an implicit reference to the “tribunals” called for by, among others, FvD member Pepijn van Houwelingen and former Speaker of the House Bosma (PVV).
The public addresses were backed up by violence outside the town hall. In Uitgeest, the council meeting had to be suspended due to the threat and use of a fireworks bomb outside. In Lisse, police had to clear the area around the town hall.
Conclusion
New Defend groups are growing fast. Where the current movement started in 2025 with a handful of groups, Justice for Prosperity and Pointer have now identified 35 similar groups. These groups present themselves publicly as respectful and peaceful. A closer look reveals an entirely different picture.
It is a mix of far-right ideology with, among other things, the direct aim of influencing local decision-making around asylum seeker centres. The result is that democratic processes face subversion through undemocratic means. To achieve this, the groups travel the length and breadth of the country to organise, attend or disrupt local demonstrations. Behind the public façade of respect and peacefulness, internal communications and behaviour reveal a movement in which extremist expression, intimidation, and veiled or open support for violence all have a place.
Stichting Justice for Prosperity publishes this report because threats and violence have no place in a democracy and because local administrators need broad support in their work. The problem extends beyond the influence on decision-making alone: it can deter people from entering (local) politics and standing as candidates. Many administrators have so far shown resilience in the face of this, and we urge them to report criminal offences to the police. Stichting Justice for Prosperity monitors further developments closely and will continue to inform and report on them, so that the public understands what is organising and developing behind the scenes.
Disclaimer: We apply the AIVD’s definition of right-wing extremism and have identified the Defend groups accordingly.
