CHANCELLOR Angela Merkel used her new year speech on Wednesday to warn German citizens not to take part in weekly Islamophobic rallies in Dresden.

She condemned the protest organisers, accusing them of being driven by prejudice and hatred against foreigners.

The chancellor used unusually direct words for the thousands-strong rallies organised by a group calling itself Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West (Pegida).

“When the protesters chant: ‘We are the people,’ they actually mean to say: ‘You don’t belong because of your religion or your skin colour’,” she said.

Immigration has emerged as a contentious topic lately in Germany, partly due to a sharp rise in asylum applications, particularly from Syrians.

However, Ms Merkel stressed that refugees from wars and crises around the globe are welcome in Germany, saying that many of them “literally escaped death.

“It goes without saying that we will help them and accommodate people seeking refuge.”