Pegida female leader calls for refugees to be shot and the burqa to be banned

The deputy leader of the European far-right Pegida movement called for refugees to be shot and for Europeans to "forget about decency" in fighting mass immigration.

"We don't have time for decency any more. If we don't grab our pitchforks and fight the Islamisation of Europe, we are lost", Tatjana Festerling told MailOnline. "The Muslim headscarf should be banned, and radical mosques should be closed. We need to make life uncomfortable for them.

"Migrants should be forced to register at police stations, and ultimately we need to look at deportation. If they keep crossing the border and you can't arrest them, shoot them."

Festerling then condoned physical violence of the type seen in Cologne and other German cities: "I can understand why a man becomes a hooligan. It's a rebellion against what I call 'nipple socialism', our feminised culture that promotes women and Muslims and wages war on white men. I like hooligans. Hooligans have my respect. They have protected Pegida rallies right from the beginning against the brutal leftists."

The comments echo those of anti-immigration AfD party leader Frauke Petry, who in January attracted widespread criticism when she called for immigrants and refugees entering Germany illegally to be shot.

Pegida has attracted tens of thousands of supporters to its rallies in Dresden, east Germany, and has attempted to capitalise on growing concern about the refugee crisis and radical Islam by expanding to other countries in Europe.

Former EDL leader Tommy Robinson led a rally by a new UK branch of the group in Birmingham on 6 February, which attracted only 200 supporters.