PEGIDA, an anti-Muslim movement, held rallies in cities throughout Europe and Australia on Saturday, Reuters reported.
In Calais, Dresden, Birmingham, Prague, Warsaw, Dublin, and Amsterdam, demonstrators took to the streets bearing signs protesting the hundreds of thousands of refugees who arrived in their cities in the past year. A dozen were arrested in the French city of Calais, and a Prague refugee center was set on fire with Molotov cocktails hours after the PEGIDA protest ended.
Many cities also saw anti-racism protests held to counter the PEGIDA demonstrations.
Over a million refugees entered Europe from the Middle East and Africa in 2015, many of them fleeing the protracted civil war that has devastated Syria.
Photos from the protests are posted below.
A flag reads “Islamists Not Welcome” as mounted Dutch riot police separates pro and anti Pegida demonstrators during a rally against islamisation in Amsterdam, Netherlands (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
A young boy, dressed up as a clown, attends the counter-protest in central Copenhagen, in Copenhagen, on February 6, 2016. (Photo by Aleksander Klug/NurPhoto)
Participants in a rally against “the Islamization of Europe” in Warsaw. Alexey Vitvitsky/Sputnik via AP
Australian protestors carry a banner ‘Reclaim Australia Rally’ before the rally in Canberra, Australia, 06 February 2016. Photo by: Subel Bhandari/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
Participants in a rally against “the Islamization of Europe” in Warsaw. Alexey Vitvitsky/Sputnik via AP
Right-wing protesters hold a speech at the march’s final destination, in Copenhagen, on February 6, 2016. (Photo by Aleksander Klug/NurPhoto)
