British people becoming more sympathetic towards refugees and immigrants, survey suggests

‘Government policy must change to build on the kernel of positive findings here’

Experts say the findings show the government’s ‘hostile’ policies on immigration do not reflect public opinion (Rex)

British people are becoming more sympathetic towards refugees and migrants, according to a new study.

A survey of 1,053 Britons reveals an increase in those who feel the government should do more to help refugees fleeing war and persecution and enable more legal immigrants to become British citizens.

The annual Aurora Humanitarian Index public opinion study shows that more than half (52 per cent) of the UK population feels that refugees deserve more support, and 38 per cent are regretful that the country is not doing enough to help, up 11 points from last year.

It also shows that nearly half (47 per cent) of British people think that legally established immigrants should be able to become UK citizens, up 10 points from 2017.

Experts said the findings show the government’s “hostile” policies on immigration do not reflect public opinion, and urged ministers to ensure the positive attitudes are translated into legislation.

It follows intense scrutiny of the UK’s immigration system in recent weeks after the Windrush fiasco forced ministers to apologise for wrongly targeting people who have the right to be in Britain.

Speculating on why the public is becoming more sympathetic towards refugees and immigrants, Dr Omar Khan, director of race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust, said Brexit played a role.

“People feel that having voted on Brexit they’ve been heard on immigration, and one of the major sources of public concern was that the EU membership meant we couldn’t control immigration, so those people feel like that has happened,” he told The Independent.

“And those who are more neutral have perhaps seen the rise in xenophobia and racism and started to think maybe we’ve gone too far. The media is not putting out quite as many headlines about migrant scroungers, which has also definitely influenced public opinion.”

Highlighting the public’s outrage over the Windrush scandal, Mr Khan continued: “The government shouldn’t be using public opinion to justify its choice to make Britain a hostile place for migrants.

“It is the government’s choice to implement a hostile environment and to charge people in excess of £1,000 for British citizenship, and the public does not agree with the government. It is out of step with British public opinion.

“Policymakers always cite public opinion for why they want to be tough on immigration, but really it’s pretty clear that in a lot of cases it’s just justifying a policy they want to pursue anyway. I would hope that government policy might change to build on the kernel of positive findings here.”

Despite the sympathy towards refugees and immigrants, the survey shows that the majority (65 per cent) of people in the UK claim there are too many humanitarian crises to keep up with today, and are still largely misinformed on the reality of the refugee crisis.

Ninety-six per cent of people in the UK don’t know or underestimate the fact that the vast majority of displaced people are hosted by developing countries rather than the West, and are most likely to think that Germany, the UK and Italy have accepted the highest number of refugees over the last decade.

The reality, according to the UNHCR, is that the UK was hosting 118,000 refugees at the end of 2016 compared to 2,869,421 for Turkey.

Misperceptions also remain when it comes to understanding who refugees are. Most people in the UK think only 32 per cent of refugees are under the age of 18, yet in reality 52 per cent of the total global refugee population are children.

A striking finding this year showed that only a little over a third (38 per cent) view the protection of children, and one-quarter (25 per cent) view the protection of women, as pressing humanitarian issues.

The survey also reveals that almost half of British people (49 per cent) regard risk of war as the most pressing global humanitarian challenge facing humanity at present, compared to just 33 per cent in 2017. At 64 per cent, terrorism remains the most pressing humanitarian issue for Britons.

Ruben Vardanyan, co-founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, said: “It’s heartening that nationalistic attitudes towards refugees is in decline in the UK.

“However, what is worrying is that this is the third year that the Humanitarian Index has revealed an alarming level of ignorance about the realities of the global refugee crisis.

“It’s critical that people remain informed on the nature and scale of the problem otherwise apathy and complacency get in the way of action on behalf of the world’s most vulnerable.”

The study, which surveyed nearly 11,000 people in 12 countries, also found a rise in the levels of trust in global political leaders to resolve the refugee crisis.

Internationally, Angela Merkel is up 13 points at 46 per cent and Donald Trump is up 10 points at 40 per cent.

Theresa May is also up by 10 points, but with only 25 per cent of people believing she has the capabilities to address the refugee crisis, she is placed behind Vladimir Putin (35 per cent), Pope Francis (31 per cent) and Emmanuel Macron (31 per cent).