Clashes break out during anti-racism demo in Germany

Scuffles have erupted between police and people protesting against the activities of the far-right German party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has recently gained support due to its anti-refugee rhetoric in the Western European country.

Thousands of demonstrators, who were mostly from the Left Party, marched on the building, where an AfD convention was held, in the northern German city of Hannover on Saturday.

The protesters were holding banners and signs, reading, “Hannover - Nazi-free zone” and “Smash fascism.”

“We were here today to protest against the AfD federal party convention. The AfD and with it the newly strengthened racist movement in Germany tries to project people’s fear that originates from social insecurities onto scapegoats,” said Rasmus, one of the participants of Saturday’s event.

Rasmus further slammed the AfD for blaming refugees, rather than the government’s failed policies, for the country’s current woes.

The AfD’s anti-refugee rhetoric has made the far-right party the third most popular party in Germany, a recent survey shows.

The survey found that the AfD would secure more than 10 percent of the votes in the 2017 general elections, compared to only 4.9 percent it garnered in the 2013 polls.

Anti-refugee protest in Austria

In another development on Saturday, hundreds of people poured into the streets of the southeastern Austrian town of Spielfeld, located on the Slovenian border, in protest against the European Union’s refugee policy, which they blame for the influx of asylum seekers into the central European state.

The event was organized by Identitarian, a pan-European socio-political movement.

A counter-protest was also planned on the same day, but it was banned by the Austrian authorities. 

European countries reportedly remain divided over how to deal with refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict-hit zones in the Middle East and Africa.

While a few European leaders support an open-door refugee policy, others prefer controlling the external borders of the EU, deporting more people and paying third countries to keep asylum seekers on their soil.

According to the recent figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 868,280 refugees have reached Europe’s shores so far this year while more than 3,550 people have either died or gone missing in their perilous journey to the continent.

This is while many of the EU states have come under fire for their mistreatment of asylum seekers at the borders, where they have been grappling with dire living conditions in refugee camps.

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