The charity's latest Refugees Welcome Survey 2016 surveyed 27,000 people in 27 countries around the world, assessing their attitude towards refugees fleeing conflict or persecution.
#Egypt: 10,000+ supporters signed a petition calling for an end to the crackdown against NGOs. Thank YOU! pic.twitter.com/iUqRgEbVtD
— AmnestyInternational (@AmnestyOnline) 19 May 2016
While Germany has risen to prominence as a hub of acceptance during the ongoing refugee crisis, so much so that chancellor Angela Merkel was dubbed "Mother Angela" on the cover of Der Spiegel last year — unexpectedly, it was China which won the first spot in Amnesty's ranking.
The poll, carried out by surveying firm GlobeScan, found that almost half of the 1,055 Chinese citizens interviewed, were ready to welcome refugees not only in their country, city and neighborhood, but even in their own homes.
Myth-busting day at Amnesty: people more open to #refugees than govs give them credit for. https://t.co/8AdLWiYXaf pic.twitter.com/CVZdJ6ivm8
— Gauri van Gulik (@GaurivanGulik) 19 May 2016
Germans, while scoring well overall, were not up for hosting refugees in their households — only 10 percent of them said they would do that.
Still, Germany came close second behind China, and ahead of the UK, Canada and Australia.
Never again can it be said that govts cant help #refugees b/c of "public opinion" https://t.co/WImNAfs1IU pic.twitter.com/FlcKOCIm1v
— Thomas Coombes (@T_Coombes) 19 May 2016
The German refugee-friendly attitude is somewhat surprising amid growing reports of a backlash against Merkel's "open door" policy, especially after immigration-related incidents such as the mass sexual assault in Cologne on New Year's Eve.
A January poll by German TV ZDF found that 60 percent of Germans were worried by the influx of one million refugees in 2015 alone, while according to an Infratest dimap poll in February, ninety percent of Germans wanted to enforce restrictions on new arrivals.
New poll shows majority of Americans believe US must do more for #refugees. #RefugeesWelcome https://t.co/F9NXt6vnPs pic.twitter.com/TcDUt5qkjV
— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) May 19, 2016
Yet, the German citizens surveyed by Amnesty said they thought their government "should do more to help refugees."
In fact, the majority of people around the world have a pro-refugees stance, with 73 percent of the subjects agreeing with the idea that refugees should be able to find safe haven in other countries.
Merkel's popularity falls below 50% for the first time ever. [#Germany Infratest/Dimap poll]:
— Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) February 3, 2016
46% —8 points pic.twitter.com/YZF1XPsB0W
The only exceptions to the trend were Thailand and Turkey, where a majority of respondents expressed disagreement.
