A group of neo-Nazis were capsicum-sprayed by Victorian police after crashing a refugee rally in the Melbourne CBD, on Tuesday afternoon.

Around 300 people had gathered at the Department of Home Affairs in Docklands, protesting for the 100th straight day for refugees to be granted permanent visas. A group of 20 men dressed in black clothing and balaclavas stormed the encampment at 6pm.

Aran Mylvaganam, organiser of the asylum seeker rally and member of the Tamil Refugee Council, told the ABC that the crowd chased away the group of men that were performing “hate speech”. 

“The chants were quite hate speech, in the sense that saying Australia is for the white man is a hate speech,” he said. 

“It’s quite dangerous at the moment for refugees to express their political views without being attacked by racists.” 

The planned protest had police supervision, who acted quickly to disband the group of far-right extremists, who were chanting and holding a banner with radical and offensive slogans, such as “white power” and “hail victory”. Police formed a line to separate the two groups, while a few officers used pepper spray to control the group of neo-Nazis.

A spokesperson from Victoria Police said that no one was arrested or injured.   

“The groups dispersed and there were no arrests or reports of injuries,” they said.

“Police will assess the circumstances surrounding the demonstration and review vision of the incident and people involved.” 

While the group of men fled the event, they later returned, but Refugee Action Collective spokesperson David Glanz said that “in the end, the police essentially pushed them away”. 

“Our rally continued. It was a real festival of resistance, celebrating the incredible sacrifice that refugees have made with 100 days of round-the-clock encampment.” 

Photo: Victoria Police officers at a protest by Julian Meehan is available HERE and is used under a Creative Commons Licence.