Nearly 60 percent of Europeans believe the threat of terrorism increases as more refugees arrive in their countries, a PEW survey has found. Half of respondents also see them as an economic “burden” because “they take our jobs and social benefits.”
A Pew Research Center survey, published on Monday, showed that the majority of people polled in 10 European countries, which accounts for 80 percent of the EU population, seems to mistrust refugees. In Germany, which took in over 1 million refugees last year and has seen a surge in support for right-wing parties, 61 percent of those polled connects an increase in the “likelihood of terrorism” to the refugee crisis, while in France, which has been in a state of emergency since the deadly November terror attacks, 46 percent see the parallels between the two.
Some Eastern European countries, namely Hungary and Poland, topped the list, with a staggering 76 percent of Hungarians and 71 percent of Poles linking increasing terror activity to uncontrollable refugee flows. The two are also among the countries most concerned with the economic repercussions of the refugee crisis, as 82 percent of Hungarians, 72 of Greeks, and 75 percent of Poles appear to hold the view that the incomers deprive them of jobs and social benefits. Over a half of French citizens sided with this view, while only 31 percent of Germans did so. Moreover, “Sweden and Germany are the only countries where at least half say refugees make their nation stronger because of their work and talents,” the PEW report on the survey reads. While Germany has accommodated more refugees in sheer number, Sweden has taken in more refugees per capita than any other country in Europe.
However, even in seemingly refugee-friendly Germany and Sweden, the majority of respondents did not believe Muslims were capable of smoothly integrating into European society. Some 61 percent of Germans and half of Swedes believe that the majority of Muslims already living in their countries prefer to remain “distinct from the larger society” rather than adopt the customs of the nation they are living in. High in the rankings is also Greece, along with Spain and Italy, where “six-in-ten or more”held the same view.

Source: RT.com