Survey shows Hungarians open to refugees, reject economic migrants

Budapest, July 12 (MTI) – Two-thirds of Hungarians would be willing to take in genuine refugees but most reject economic migrants according to a recent survey prepared by the Migration Research Institute and made available to MTI on Tuesday.

According to the survey prepared between May 17 and June 4 by interviewing 2,000 people, the majority of Hungarians believe that the current wave of migrants is mostly made up of economic migrants.

Respondents said their main concern was an increase in security risks and added that this was confirmed by links they saw between increased migration pressure and an increase in the number of terrorist acts committed in Europe.

A quarter of the people interviewed said they had personal experiences with migrants and these were mostly negative.

Some three-quarters of the people interviewed said they would not like a migrant reception facility to be set up in their home town. Half of the people said asylum seekers should demonstrate a willingness to cooperate.

The institute said the survey revealed that member state sovereignty was an important issue for Hungarians when it comes to migration, with the majority stating that member states should have the right to decide about refugee requests submitted in the European Union.

At the same time, more than half of the people interviewed said the protection of Schengen borders was the job of the EU’s specialised authority.

A narrow majority said they would increase Hungarian capacities for public safety measures.

A general consensus in support of the border fence to stop migrants shows that the sense of personal security is important for Hungarians, the institute said. The majority support the involvement of the army in border protection efforts and said that they expect strict and efficient border protection from the EU and also from the Hungarian government.

Photo: Balázs Béli

Source: MTI