The chairman of Amsterdam’s Pride organisation has refused to step down over comments made about refugees but has apologised for ‘upsetting some members’.

LGBT rights group COC Amsterdam called Frits Huffnagel to quit after he made the statement on a radio programme during a discussion about the refugee problems on the border between Turkey and Greece.

‘We see a child and we think “oh how sad”, but we don’t see the father standing behind him who might have carried out war crimes or the mother in the background who facilitated it,’ Huffnagel, a VVD stalwart, said during the discussion. ‘These people should not come here.’

The COC sent an open letter to the Pride organisation condemning the comments. ‘We would recommend you take serious measures, not least of which is the dismissal of the chairman,’ the letter said. This year’s Pride boat parade is due to include a boat of refugees for the first time.

Pride has since published a statement in which Huffnagel says he had not expected his comments to be so firmly glued to the Pride organisation itself. ‘I have learned my lesson for the future and I will continue doing my utmost for the Pride community, as I have done over the past few years.’

The Pride organisation said Huffnagel’s comments about a ‘very politically sensitive issue’ were made under his own name.