Several hundred demonstrate in Riga against plan to resettle refugees in Latvia

Several hundred people turned out for a protest organized by Latvia's anti-immigration activists here on Tuesday against the government's plan to take in refugees that have to be resettled from other EU member states, local media reported.

Although some media reports said that the protest drew as many as 1,000 participants, police put their number at an estimated 300.

The crowd gathered outside the government house in central Riga in the afternoon. Some people held the national flags of Latvia and its two Baltic neighbors Lithuania and Estonia, while others had arrived with posters calling for a referendum on the refugee issue and demanding an end to "genocide against Latvians."

The protest passed off peacefully and was over in an hour.

Also taking part in the protest were several lawmakers of the National Alliance, a right-wing partner in Latvia's centre-right government coalition, which has been sparring with Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma on the refugee issue.

The National Alliance's co-chairman Raivis Dzintars, who also attended the rally, said that the government's decision to take in refugees had been insufficiently debated.

Under the decision taken by the government at the beginning of June, during the next couple of years Latvia will take in 250 refugees to help other EU member states cope with the influx of migrants from the Mediterranean. Endit