Chemnitz Rally Participants Call For Merkel's Resignation, Blast Migration Policy

CHEMNITZ (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2018) People took to the streets of the German city of Chemnitz on Friday to rally against the government's migration policy and demand that Chancellor Angela Merkel step down, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

The rally comes as the chancellor is visiting the city, which had been rocked by a wave of far-right protests and counter-rallies after a local man was stabbed to death by suspected migrants on August 26. Violence continued for weeks, reigniting a nationwide debate on Berlin's migration policy.

The Friday rally is organized by the Pro Chemnitz movement, with its participants chanting "Merkel must go" and "No truth in Merkel's propaganda." Some of the activists are also carrying flags of right-wing political forces, such as the anti-immigrant Pegida movement.

The national flags of Germany, Norway and Russia are also seen in the crowd.

The participants of the rally harshly criticize Merkel's open-door policy and commitment to seeking an EU-wide solution to the migration crisis.

"There is a European solution � that is the Dublin agreement [stipulating that asylum seekers must be processed in the country of their first arrival]. Merkel failed to implement it, in contrast, she made it invalid," one of the speakers claimed under the cheers of the crowd.

However, the speaker, just as some of other participants, also voiced openly radical views, likening migrants with "marauding gangs."

According to the Sputnik correspondent's estimate, the rally has gathered some 1,500 people.