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Public support for refugees has declined in several countries since the start of the war in Ukraine. However, nearly 69% of Swiss people and more than 70% of people around the world believe that protection must be guaranteed for those who must flee.
According to a poll published Tuesday in Geneva by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around a quarter of Swiss people say they are opposed to the right of refugees to be welcomed, including in their country. This result places Switzerland in the 15 states where support is the least among the more than 50 in which some 33,000 people were surveyed.
In total, 45% of Swiss believe that the borders should be completely closed to refugees compared to 48% who are opposed to this. A similar share says Switzerland is welcoming more refugees than it should. On the contrary, only 16% think that more is needed.
Worldwide, half of those surveyed, compared to 39% in Switzerland, believe that refugees can integrate. Around the same share says that they must have full access to employment and health, compared to around 40% in Switzerland. Residents of countries accustomed to welcoming refugees are the most optimistic.
In some of them and in Western countries, however, these volumes are lower, says the survey. A third believe that refugees can contribute positively to society, and this is 38% in Switzerland, but an equally large share have an opposite opinion.
Safety and economy
Concerns relate in particular to the impact on security, with more than 30% of Swiss considering it negative, and public services. In total, 58% of people surveyed in Switzerland think that foreigners come for economic reasons and are not fleeing conflicts.
And they are divided on the effects of refugees on the economy, with 30% believing that these are positive and 31% affirming on the contrary that they are negative. Only a quarter of Swiss people are in favor of family reunification.
Barely more than 20% consider that refugees can fully access permanent resident or citizen status. Which places the Swiss in the ten least generous. 47% are in favor of a partial possibility of obtaining these rights.
Three-quarters of refugees are in poor or middle-income countries. Nearly 40% of those questioned believe that assistance to host countries is insufficient, according to the survey published two days before International Refugee Day.
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