site.bta60 Per Cent of Respondents in National Poll See Refugees as National Security Risk

60 Per Cent of Respondents in National Poll See Refugees as National Security Risk

Sofia, April 7 (BTA) - A nationally representative survey of public attitudes to refugees in Bulgaria found that 60 per cent of respondents see refugees as a risk to the country's national security, 15.2 per cent think otherwise, and 24.8 per cent don't know.

The results of the survey, commissioned by the non-governmental Economics and International Relations Institute (EIRI) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and conducted by Sova Harris among 1,000 respondents, was presented at a BTA-hosted roundtable on "Influence of the Refugee Crisis on Bulgarian Society and Bulgarian Politics" here on Thursday.

According to the survey, opinions on the matter are relatively settled and do not vary with gender, education, age, residence or ideological views of those interviewed.

"People are afraid of refugees, they don't hate them. Moods are disparate, the public mind is sufficiently confused and dominated by fears," said EIRI Director Lyubomir Kyuchoukov, summing up the findings.

As many as 46.5 per cent of respondents believe that the EU should not help asylum seekers in its territory, 28 per cent said they should be helped, and 25.5 per cent had no opinion. Refugees should not be helped because they are terrorists (according to 18.8 per cent), because Bulgaria is too bad off economically and cannot take care of its own population (16.7 per cent), because they jeopardize the EU economy and welfare system (6.9 per cent), because they should return where they came from (6.7 per cent), because of their different mentality and religion and inability to integrate (5 per cent), because too many refugees have already been admitted (4.3 per cent), because Europe risks being Islamized (3.9 per cent), etc. Those favouring the need of EU support for refugees believe that this is humane and such people need help (43.9 per cent), that the EU should help only those fleeing war (24 per cent), that the EU has already admitted them and now should help them (10.8 per cent), that refugees should be treated well but the purpose of their coming to Europe should be checked (3.6 per cent), etc.

According to 57 per cent of those polled, all EU Member States should agree on a common solution to the refugee problem; 22.4 per cent believe that each country should cope on its own, and 20.6 per cent don't know. More than half (53.6 per cent) believe that Bulgaria should show solidarity and accept its refugee allocation under the EU decision, 23.4 per cent disagree, and 23 per cent have no opinion.

An overwhelming 82.1 per cent think that a system for selection outside the EU should be set up so as to establish a procedure for the reception of refugees, 2.8 per cent believe that each asylum seeker should be admitted, and 15.1 per cent don't know.

Among the factors impeding refugees' integration, 49.3 per cent single out Bulgaria's inability to ensure conditions for integration because it is extremely poor, 38.5 per cent blame the refugees' different culture and religion and inability to adapt to the local conditions, and 1.2 per cent don't know. More than three-quarters (78.3 per cent) are afraid that refugees will be a burden on the Bulgarian economy, and just 3.2 per cent expect them to help this country's economic development, while 18.5 per cent have no opinion. Slightly over half (55.9 per cent) find it unacceptable to have a refugee colleague or nextdoor neighbour, 22.6 per cent don't mind, and 26.5 per cent don't know. Asked whether they see refugees as a threat, 47 per cent say no and that they are not afraid of refugees, 34.1 per cent say yes because they are afraid of adherents to a different religion, another 23.6 per cent say yes because they are afraid of people with a different ethnic background, and 4.6 per cent say yes because they hate foreigners.