Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders pledges crackdown on 'Moroccan scum'

The anti-Islam Freedom Party head has caused outrage after attacking the Moroccan community in the Netherlands.

Wilders, speaking to journalists in the town of Spijkenisse, a stronghold of the Freedom Party, said: "The Moroccan scum in Holland… once again not all are scum… but there is a lot of Moroccan scum in Holland who make the streets unsafe, mostly young people… and that should change.

"If you want to regain your country, make the Netherlands for the people of the Netherlands again, then you can only vote for one party," the populist politician said, surrounded by police and security guards as a group of supporters shouted his name.

A small group of demonstrators also turned up in Spijkenisse, an ethnically diverse industrial area.

Emma Smeets, on of the protestors, told Associated Press: "A lot of people have gotten used to it and they don't protest any more, and I think it's important that you show your voice, that you don't agree with the things that are happening, and also just to get into contact with the people that are voting for him."

In December, Wilders was convicted of inciting discrimination against people of Moroccan origin.

In his defence, the politician said that "Moroccans are not a race" and invoked his right of freedom of speech. He had egged on supporters to chant "Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!" Moroccans in Holland.

The trial was triggered after police received 6,400 complaints about the peroxide-haired politician's remarks made at an election campaign in The Hague.

The Netherlands goes to the polls on 15 March, with the Freedom Party currently in front in opinion polls with 17%.

The far-right party's manifesto includes a ban on Muslim immigrants, leaving the EU and closing all mosques in the Netherlands, according to Deutsche Welle.

If Wilders and his party were to be victorious, they would find it problematic to form a government as most of the other political parties have ruled out forming a coalition with him, condemning his policies as unconstitutional and offensive.