As thousands of Syrian refugees gathered outside the border of Turkey, PEGIDA staged last weekend anti-Islam rallies across European cities in a move to control the flow of immigrants and to prevent the Islamisation of Western culture. PEGIDA stands for Patrotic Europeans Agains the Islamisation of the West.
According to USA Today, the rallies happened simultaneously in the cities in the Czech Republic, France,Germany, Poland, and the Netherlands. The fulcrum took place in Dresden in Germany, said to be the wealthiest country in Europe which is now straining to accommodate the 1 million war refugees from Syria. About 8,000 people from Dresden attended the rally, many of them PEGIDA members denying that they were racist or prejudiced. Opponents of the rally had also come out, calling the PEGIDA groups biogted neo-Nazis.
The report quoted one 43-year-old male member explaining his views, saying, "We want to keep our Germany the way it is. Our culture. Our people. Our views."
The Telegraph reports similar views from Prague where 5,000 PEGIDA members showed up. One 51-year-old lady said, "We are demonstrating because we are very worried about our country and Islam. You must understand, people are afraid."
The Australian adds that Denmark, Estonia, Filand, and Ireland also had PEGIDA rallies. Members from France showed up in Calais, shouting that they should not let the city die. Many immigrants who are now liviing in slums in Calais use it as a stopover before going to Britain via the English Channel.
It says that though the membership had declined in recent years, it started to experience a resurgence because of the fears surrounding the escalating number of immigrants into Europe recently.
Skirmishes erupted between PEGIDA and left-wing groups in Dresden and Calais. Police officers stepped in to intervene.
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