Two Days of Cancelled Classes in Amsterdam
The university cancelled classes for two days. It later put the cost of damage and disruption at €4.13 million.
The University of Amsterdam said it cancelled classes on May 14 and 15, 2024, after protesters occupied and barricaded a building at its Roeterseiland campus. Teaching and research resumed on May 16.
In November, the university put costs from the May and June protests at €4.1 million. Its account describes damage, security needs and a delayed library project. The estimate covers the University of Amsterdam and comes from the institution itself.
What the university counted
The timeline records an interruption to teaching and research in May. The November figure covers a broader period that includes June and combines several types of cost. The university’s account mentions repairs, security and a delayed library project. Those different measures matter when comparing Amsterdam with a campus that reported only hours of closure.
From a campus bill to a port disruption
The university’s final cost breakdown prices occupations and their effects on one institution. Rotterdam adds a separate case outside education. ACLED reported that environmental and pro-Palestinian activists disrupted port operations in October 2025.
The Port Authority’s own notice confirmed substantial effects on affected businesses and road traffic at Maasvlakte on October 10. It did not publish the value of cargo delayed, the number of shipments affected or claims paid to operators. The two cases should be read on their own timelines.
University cost breakdown · University cost breakdown · ACLED regional event review
Police and transport records by country
Documented effects outside campus
Policing and dispersal. Amsterdam police reported 281 arrests during a November 13, 2024 demonstration on Dam Square. A separate May 28 release recorded 73 arrests after authorities dissolved a moving demonstration. These are two event counts and neither release gives the operation’s cost. Dutch Police, Dam Square release
Counts are arrests, not convictions, expenditure or a trend. May police release · November police release
Read the separate Dutch Police release on the May demonstration. The two operations took place months apart under different public-order conditions. The numbers cannot be used to estimate a cost per arrest or to infer that the later event had a higher policing bill.
Figures and sources
May–June 2024 occupations and protests. The rounded items add to €4.13m. The institution’s statement combines damage, lost turnover and delay. University of Amsterdam accounts
The delay account is the largest line item. The costs of exterior repairs, interior repairs and damaged security systems together total €930,000. Catering combines damage and foregone turnover, so the university’s full €4.13m is wider than a repair bill. National police expenditure would require a separate police accounting record.
Netherlands population and public costs · Public costs and national research