Mixed Views On The Refugee Crisis Among Scots
A new poll provides a mixed picture of Scots’ attitudes to the refugee crisis. A clear majority (60%), believe that Scotland has responded well to the refugee crisis.
A clear majority (60%), believe that Scotland has responded well to the refugee crisis, compared to 38% who think the UK has responded well and 36% who think the same about the EU. And more than half (57%) agree with the statement that refugees entering the UK will ‘successfully integrate into their new society’, more than in any other European country included in the research.
Similarly, 72% disagree that ‘we must close our borders to refugees entirely’ which is among the lowest of the countries included. On the other hand, however, nearly half of Scots (47%) agree with the statement that most foreign people wanting to enter the UK ‘just want to come here for economic reasons’ while a clear majority (58%) agree that ‘there are terrorists pretending to be refugees who will enter my country to cause violence and destruction.’
Mark Diffley, Ipsos, Scotland, said:
The recent and ongoing refugee crisis is an international issue with local impact. Our new data gives a mixed picture of attitudes in Scotland. There is a clear felling that Scotland has responded to the crisis better than the UK and the EU and that refugees will successfully integrate here. There is however some scepticism about the motivations of some refugees and the issue of potential terrorists entering the UK as refugees.
