German leader of far-right Pegida banned from UK

By Muhammad Mussa

LONDON (AA) - The founder of the German far right movement Patriotic Europeans against Islamisation of the West (Pegida) has been banned from entering the U.K., local media reported Sunday.

Lutz Bachmann, who has led many anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant marches attracting tens of thousands of people in Germany, arrived in the U.K. Saturday night and was refused entry at London Stansted Airport.

Bachmann was subsequently detained and removed from the U.K. Sunday morning.

Speaking to The Independent, a spokesperson for the Home Office said Bachmann was refused entry because his presence in the U.K. was not in the public interest.

“Border Force has the power to refuse entry to an individual if it is considered that his or her presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good," the spokesperson reportedly said.

Bachmann was expected to speak alongside Tommy Robinson, the former head of another far-right movement, the English Defence League, and founder of the U.K. branch of Pegida in London.

The 45-year-old founded Pegida in October 2014 as a response to the German government resettling refugees in the country.

The anti-Islam and anti-Immigrant group has been accused of fermenting violence and xenophobic attacks.

Other far-right figures have attempted to enter the U.K. but failed.

Lauren Southern, a Canadian far-right activist, was detained by the Border Force in Calais on Monday and barred from entering the U.K.

“They just locked me out and said 'au revoir'... Officially banned from UK for 'racism'.. doing fine though, all the cool people are being banned anyway,” Southern said on Twitter.

Austrian far-right activist Martin Sellner and his American girlfriend Brittany Pettibone were also refused entry upon arriving at Luton Airport on Friday.