Around 300 squatters have staged a demonstration in Amsterdam's Dam Square to protest against a new anti-squatting law that comes into force this week.

The squatters set up a tent camp in the square to demonstrate the fate they claim awaits them once they are evicted. They also occupied the capital's former fire brigade headquarters. This week they will hold more demonstrations, which will culminate on 1 October in the city centre.

Dutch municipalities have voiced reservations about the new law, which would require them to evict many squatters from buildings that otherwise stood empty. City councils say they expect little to change on the ground. Over the past few decades, the number of buildings occupied by squatters has dropped dramatically.

Amsterdam has, all told, just 200-300 squats, which together house around 1,500 squatters. In the heyday of the squatting movement in the 1970s, the figure was closer to 20,000.

Other cities known as squatting bulwarks are Nijmegen, Groningen and Breda. The three cities say they will apply the new law sparingly. But they are determined, they say, to prevent buildings standing empty.

Since the 1970s, squatting has been tolerated, if, for example, a building had remained empty for longer than 12 months. Under the new law, squatting will be a criminal offence under all circumstances.

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide