Public Opinion, Refugee Programs, and State Welfare in Twenty Countries

Abstract

Refugee programs bolster global human rights by promoting responsibility-sharing and assisting the 25.9 million people who have been forced to flee their countries for fear of war or persecution. As refugee numbers soar globally and are depicted unfavorably by the media in the wake of the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis, public opinion towards refugees is increasingly measured. As opposed to examining the traits in the refugee population that make it more or less favorable for integration, this paper purports to identify a trait in the third-country host population that makes it more or less amenable to receiving refugees.

Utilizing the 2016 Amnesty International Refugees Welcome survey and data from the 2010-2014 World Values Survey wave, this paper suggests that countries whose individuals prefer a high level of personal responsibility- as opposed to government intervention to ensure economic wellbeing- are more likely to support programs that aid refugees or allow refugees to enter the country. This paper contends that said individuals are less likely to view refugees as competition for government-provided resources and are therefore more supportive of their integration. Furthermore, these individuals support refugees settling or living at closer peripheries, encompassing the home, the neighborhood, or the city/village/town, as opposed to settling within the country at large.