Wednesday’s arrest of Iraqi refugees taking shelter in a church has left a deeply divided population

A massive demonstration in Copenhagen yesterday protesting the arrest of 19 Iraqi refugees stands in stark contrast to multiple polls finding that the majority of people support the police.

Police estimate that more than 15,000 people took part in a march starting at Brorson’s Church in the Nørrebro district where the Iraqis had been living since May. They had sought refuge there with about 30 other Iraqis whose requests for asylum had been denied.

The march proceeded peacefully to Town Hall Square and on to the parliament building, where participants urged decision makers not to deport the Iraqis, some of whom have been living in Denmark for eight years.

Some had feared a repeat of Wednesday’s violence, but after dictating the route the march was to take, police stayed on the sidelines. No arrests were made.

Similar protests were also held in Århus, Aalborg and Svendborg.

In addition to showing their support for the Iraqis, many of the marchers said they were protesting police tactics to disperse the 300 activists who had attempted to prevent the arrests early Thursday morning.

It was only the second time in modern Danish history that police have arrested people seeking shelter in a church, and the first time they did so without the church’s permission.

Scenes of police striking activists with their truncheons were repeatedly broadcast throughout the day on Thursday, but the majority of people questioned in two independent polls say they support the decision to storm the church.

In a DR/Capacent poll of 1018 people, 54 percent said the police handled the eviction of the Iraqi refugees well while only 27 percent believed they had been too rough. A poll conducted for TV2 and Politiken newspaper, which had 1011 respondents; found that 60 percent supported the arrests and eviction from the church. In both polls, however, about 20 percent were undecided.