Dutch get tough on squatters

Squatters in Amsterdam planned a demonstration today against a new law banning their occupation of unused buildings.

There are about 1,500 squatters in Amsterdam, far fewer than in the Seventies and Eighties when severe housing shortages left many young people homeless. "Of course we're going to resist: resisting is part of what we do," said a woman who identified herself only as Lilo.

It is the latest of the country's liberal institutions, such as legal prostitution and cafés that openly sell marijuana, to be abolished or curtailed.