AMU Emergency Management Public Safety

Poll: 80 Percent Would Accept Refugees in Their Country

Anti-refugee rhetoric is out of step with public opinion

According to the results of a new global survey commissioned by Amnesty International, 80 percent of people around the globe would accept refugees in their own country.

The new Refugees Welcome Index is based on a global survey of more than 27,000 people in 27 countries. The poll measured people’s overall attitudes toward refugees, as well as their willingness to let refugees live in their countries, towns, neighborhoods, or even their own homes.

According to Amnesty International, the results of the first-of-its-kind survey spoke loud a clear. The message? Anti-refugee rhetoric is out of step with public opinion.

On a global scale, 80 percent of those polled would accept refugees in their own country, while 47 percent would accept refugees in their city/town/village, and 32 percent would accept refugees in their neighborhood. Perhaps even more astonishing was the fact that 10 percent of respondents said they would take refugees into their own home.

In 20 of the 27 countries surveyed, more than three-quarters of respondents said they would accept refugees into their nation, and just 17 percent of overall respondents wanted to exclude refugees from their country entirely.

Overall, China, Germany and the UK are the most welcoming nations to refugees, while Russia, Indonesia and Thailand were least receptive and had the most negative attitudes towards refugees in general. In China, 46 percent claimed they would take refugees into their own home, the highest percentage in the survey. On the flip side, just 1 percent in Russia said they would open the doors to their own home.

More than 7 of 10 in the U.S. would accept refugees

The overall figures from United States respondents were slightly lower than overall global percentages, but still relatively high. In the U.S., 71 percent said they would openly accept refugees into the country, while 22 percent responded to refuse refugees entirely.

Of U.S. respondents, 27 percent were open to the idea of allowing refugees in their neighborhood, and 15 percent said they would open the doors to their own home.

As part of the Refugees Welcome Index, all 27 countries involved in the survey were ranked will an overall Index score. China stood atop the list with a score of 85, Russia sat at the bottom with a score of 18, and the U.S. came in 9th with a score of 60.

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