Pegida Supporters Hold Anti-Islam Rallies
About 200 demonstrators gathered for the inaugural Pegida rally in the UK – half as many as expected by police – which took place on an industrial estate miles from the city Centre.
The rally appeared to pass without incident as dozens of riot police kept Pegida supporters away from about 60 anti-fascism activists at Birmingham International rail station.
West Midlands police said they made one arrest – at the anti-fascism counter demonstration for a public order offence – during the Birmingham rally, one of 14 expected to take place around Europe on Saturday.
Tommy Robinson, the former EDL leader who organized the Pegida UK rally, said after the march there had been "no racism, no inciting hatred, no violence, no thugs, no hooligans. This is a movement you can support”.
However, lecturer Paul Kohler, who was savagely beaten by Polish burglars who broke into his west London home last year, was at the demonstration for a Channel 4 News program and said he was depressed by the views of those on the march.
"I was drawn into the immigration debate and I wanted to come and see these people, hear their arguments and confront them,” he said. "It’s been sadly depressing. It’s lived up to all my worst fears.”
Many demonstrators held placards featuring Donald Trump, saying: "Trump is right” – a possible reference to the Republican candidate for the US presidential election’s controversial call for a halt on Muslim immigration to the US.
In Calais, France, which is home to the infamous "Jungle" refugee camp for those seeking passage across the Channel Tunnel to the UK, some 150 demonstrators defied a ban on protests and clashed with police.
The French police dispersed the Calais protest with tear gas and arrested about 20 people, local authorities said.
Pegida was caught in a series of scandals, prompting mass resignation among its leaders and the movement's disappearance from the German political scene last year.
The far-right movement, however, has made a comeback in the wake of the refugee influx which has caught Europe off guard.
Meanwhile, counter demonstrations were held in several European cities on the same day, with protesters calling for asylum seekers to be welcomed.
Hundreds of people marched through Dresden under the motto "Solidarity instead of exclusion" while carrying placards reading "No place for Nazis."
Lynn Boylan, a Member of the European Parliament for Dublin, representing the Sinn Fein political party, addressed a pro-refugee demonstration in Dublin, the capital and largest city of Ireland.
"We are standing shoulder to shoulder in solidarity to show that there is no place in Ireland for racism and Islamophobia,” she said, adding, "There is no place in Ireland for hate.”
Europe is facing an unprecedented influx of refugees who are fleeing conflict-ridden zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria.
Many blame major European powers for the unprecedented exodus, saying their policies have led to a surge in terrorism and war in the violence-hit regions, forcing more people out of their homes.
More than one million refugees have reached Europe’s shores in 2015, while over 3,700 people either died or have gone missing in their perilous journey to the continent, according to figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
