Dresden, Amsterdam, Prague, Canberra, Calais, Birmingham…had something in common on Saturday: the anti-Islamic group PEGIDA took to the streets in order to protest against immigration and the refugee crisis in many of Europe’s countries and, as they claimed, to say ‘no’ to the Islamisation of Europe.
PEGIDA (the German acronym for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident) has been increasing its activity lately. Last month, the far-right group, which is claimed to be dividing Germany, congregated 18,000 people in Dresden, the same city in which streets have been taken by 8,000 supporters of this anti-Islamic movement. However, the police and security guards were expecting more than 15,000 people to protest.
Despite this drop in numbers, PEGIDA’s presence has been noticeable in many other cities around the world. Prague has been the most affected; 5,000 protesters gathered in the city centre. In the Czech capital some incidents have been registered as it seems that there has been a clash between PEGIDA and another pro-immigrant concentration, which was calmed down by the police and has had no serious consequences.
Perhaps the newest fact of this uprising movement has been its presence in the UK and Ireland. 200 people attended PEGIDA’s concentration in Birmingham, the first one held in England. Protesters have been involved in a ‘silent walk’ around the city centre, while many of them carried signs in which could be read ‘Trump is right’. 400 people have also joined PEGIDA in Canberra, capital of Australia.
However, the most serious are the incidents registered in PEGIDA’s concentration in Calais, France. 150 people gathered in the train station, and due to their refusal to leave, police had to throw tear gas and arrested more than twenty people, including PEGIDA’s leader in France: Loïc Perdriel.
Although this movement has not been present in the same way in all these cities, it’s still causing polemic inside and outside of Europe. Despite supporters protests against Merkel, the German Chancellor will be attending a meeting today with French President François Hollande to talk about the refugee crisis.