Protesters against the German government's open-door migrant policy marched in Berlin on Saturday in a rally organised by the Eurosceptic, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Counter-demonstrations in support of migrants also took place in the streets of Berlin with pro-migrant activists clashing with anti-immigration protesters and police. About 40 people were arrested.  

Alternativ f?r Deutschland (AfD), a populist-nationalist party which isn’t represented in the German parliament, has seats in several regional legislatures. It rejects Chancellor Angela Merkel's welcoming approach to refugees.

Protesters carried banners reading "Stop Merkel, save Germany" and chanted 'Merkel must go' and 'Traitor to the people'. They called for the immediate closure of German borders under the banner ‘Asylum has its limits – red card for Merkel’.

Counter-protesters shouted 'Nazis out!' and carried banners reading 'AfD, get lost' and 'Refugees, welcome'.

Scuffles broke out after police dispersed a sit-in by counter-demonstrators, some of whom tried to break through the barriers separating them from the protesters.

About 5,000 people took part in the anti-immigration march and 800 in counter-demonstrations, according to police estimates. Police deployed 1,100 officers to prevent clashes and used pepper spray to prevent clashes between the rival demonstrators.

Some 758,000 asylum-seekers arrived in Germany in the first 10 months of the year. Germany faces a record influx of up to one million migrants this year amid Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II.