Key issues: Public opinion on asylum and refugee issues - ICAR

Anecdotal evidence suggests that generalisedhostility towards asylum seekers and refugeesmay be compounded by other racial, religiousand gender prejudices. <strong>Public</strong> <strong>opinion</strong> maytherefore be particularly hostile to thoserefugees and asylum seekers who are also, forexample, Black, Muslim, LGBT or Roma.Considerable confusion, ignorance andmisinformation exists about asylum <strong>issues</strong>.People in general have poor knowledge aboutasylum and immigration <strong>issues</strong> and there is aproblem of information provision. For example,in one survey, on average people thought thatthe UK has 23% of the world’s refugees. Theactual figure is closer to 2%. 3Many of the concerns expressed in the UK arecommon to all western European countries.However, ‘there is a lower level of acceptancewhere refugees and persons seeking politicalasylum are concerned’ 4 in Britain than elsewhere.What shapes our attitudes?There is general consensus in research that mosttolerant attitudes towards asylum seekers areassociated with youth, high socio-economicstatus, high educational attainment and left wingpolitics. Where people live may also affect theirattitudes. Little is known about how ethnicityand religion affect attitudes though someresearch indicates that there is a tendency fornon-white people to have higher <strong>opinion</strong>s3MORI/Migration Watch UK (2003) British views onimmigration. London: MORI. Available atHhttp://www.mori.com/polls/2003/migration.shtmlH.4European Monitoring Centre on Racism andXenophobia (2001:14) Attitudes towards minority groupsin the European Union. A special analysis of theEurobarometer 2000 Survey. Vienna: EUMC.<strong>Key</strong> work on attitudes towardsasylum seekersCommission for Racial EqualityLiterature review (2005)Finney, N. with Peach, E. (forthcoming 2005)Literature review: Attitudes towards asylumseekers, refugees and other immigrants.London: Commission for Racial Equality.Hhttp://www.cre.gov.ukHAsylum and public attitudes researchby the Institute for <strong>Public</strong> PolicyResearch (2005)Lewis, M. (June 2005) Asylum: Understandingpublic attitudes. London: IPPR.Hhttp://www.ippr.org.uk/publicationsandreports/publication.asp?id=294H.PhD research (2004)Finney, N. (2004) ‘Asylum seeker dispersal:<strong>Public</strong> attitudes and press portrayals aroundthe UK’. PhD thesis, University of WalesSwansea.ICAR’s ‘Understanding the Stranger’programme (ongoing)D’Onofrio, L. and Munk, K. (2004)Understanding the stranger. Final report.London: ICAR.Hhttp://www.icar.org.uk/pdf/uts003.pdfH.ICAR’s ‘Media Image, CommunityImpact programme’ (ongoing)ICAR (2004) Media image, community impact.Assessing the impact of media and politicalimages of refugees and asylum seekers oncommunity relations in London. Report of a pilotresearch study. London: ICAR.Hhttp://www.icar.org.uk/pdf/mici004.pdfH.Factsheet - <strong>Key</strong> <strong>issues</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>opinion</strong> on asylum and refugee <strong>issues</strong> (June 2005) Moral rights Nissa Finney © ICAR 2005.

of recent immigrants, asylum seekers and ethnicminorities than white people.The contact hypothesis suggests that contactbetween members of different groups has thepotential to break down fears and anxieties andleads to greater understanding and tolerance.Research about newly arrived asylum seekersgenerally supports the notion that individualcontact improves community relations. Recenttheories suggest that encounters must have‘friendship potential’ if they are to result inpositive attitude change.Information sources that can influence whatpeople think about asylum <strong>issues</strong> include themedia, politicians, government and refugeeorganisations but also more informal, everydayexchanges between people.What role does the mediaplay?The British media has generally representedrefugees and asylum seekers in negative ways.There has been a repetitive use of certain termsand types of language. Asylum seekers aredescribed as a ‘flood’ or ‘wave’ and as ‘bogus’ or‘fraudulent’. Frequently, a ‘binary logic’ isdeployed setting, for example, bogus againstgenuine and legal against illegal.British news coverage of asylum <strong>issues</strong> has beencriticised for failing to provide context for thestories by not adequately explaining the reasonsfor asylum seekers’ flights to the UK and theconditions of their journey and life on arrival,and for not giving a voice to the migrantsthemselves. However, recent research has foundthat the local press has produced someAsylum attitudes statistics• 28% of people identified asylum andimmigration as an issue they wanted thepolitical parties to address.Source: Populus poll, February 2005discussed in ‘Opinion polls: scanning the<strong>issues</strong>’ by David Cowling 12 April 2005,available atHhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/vote_2005/<strong>issues</strong>/4436891.stmH.• 85% of respondents feel that thegovernment does not have immigrationunder control.Source: MORI/Migration Watch UK (2003)British views on immigration. London: MORI.Available atHhttp://www.mori.com/polls/2003/migration.shtmlH.• 70% of people support allowing morepeople with skills that are in shortsupply here to come to Britain.Source: Guardian/ICM poll, discussed inTravis, A. and Blenford, A. (2001) ‘The waywe see it… and the way it is’ The Guardian:Welcome to Britain, 21.5.2001: 6-7.• 67% of people think that fewer than 25%of asylum seekers in Britain aregenuinely fleeing persecution.Source: YouGov Immigration and Asylumsurvey for The Sun, August 2003. Available atHhttp://www.yougov.com/archives/archivesPolitical.asp?sID=3&rID=2&wID=0&uIDH=Factsheet - <strong>Key</strong> <strong>issues</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>opinion</strong> on asylum and refugee <strong>issues</strong> (June 2005) Moral rights Nissa Finney © ICAR 2005.

Asylum attitudes statistics• 45% of people agree that ‘asylum seekerswho are genuinely fleeing persecution shouldbe made welcome in Britain, even if theyhave arrived here illegally’.Source: YouGov Immigration and Asylum surveyfor The Sun, August 2003. Available atHhttp://www.yougov.com/archives/archivesPolitical.asp?sID=3&rID=2&wID=0&uIDH=.• 49% of people think immigrants havebenefited Britain’s economy.very balanced, accurate and, at times,imaginative reporting on asylum. Morepersonalised and humanised stories are seenin the local press.However, echoing broader debates aboutthe role of the media in attitude formation,the ways in which media reporting ofasylum affects public <strong>opinion</strong> is still thefocus of debate. The relationships andexchanges between media messages andtheir audiences are complex and multidirectionaland more research is neededto understand exactly how far and in whatways reporting affects attitudes.Source: as above.• 64% of people think immigrants havebenefited Britain’s culture.Source: as above.Research suggests that media coverage doesimpact on attitudes (and behaviour) towardsasylum seekers, refugees and immigrants butthe causal relationships are extremelycomplex and media messages are seen to be‘filtered’ by the audience.• On average people estimated that Britain has23% of the world’s refugees (actually around2% at the time of the poll).Source: MORI/Migration Watch UK (2003) Britishviews on immigration. London: MORI. Available atHhttp://www.mori.com/polls/2003/migration.shtmlH.<strong>Key</strong> factors that influence the nature ofmedia effects include the individual’sperception of the media source; theindividual’s prior knowledge and personalexperience of the <strong>issues</strong>; the prominence ofa message including its repetition; andwhether the message reinforces orchallenges the individual’s existing attitudes.• 60% of people support and 24% of peopleopposed the Conservative Party’s 2005 proposalsto withdraw from the 1951 UN Convention.Source: YouGov/Mail on Sunday survey, February2005. Available atHhttp://www.yougov.com/archives/archivesPoliticIn the UK context, ‘agenda setting’, thedefinition of what <strong>issues</strong> are important tothe public and politicians, is thought to beone of the media’s strongest influences onpublic <strong>opinion</strong>.al asp?sID=3&rID=2&wID=0&uIDH=Factsheet - <strong>Key</strong> <strong>issues</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>opinion</strong> on asylum and refugee <strong>issues</strong> (June 2005) Moral rights Nissa Finney © ICAR 2005.

How can <strong>opinion</strong>s be betterinformed?Many organisations have for several years beenworking for a more balanced and informeddebate about asylum and immigration, includingICAR and the major refugee organisations in theUK.Addressing negative and unbalanced mediacoverage of asylum has been identified by manyas a priority in creating more informed <strong>opinion</strong>s.This can be done by challenging inaccurate mediaportrayals by complaining to the PressComplaints Commission and other mediaregulators. However, a more sustainableapproach may be to engage with the media towork towards more varied and positivecoverage. Training and supporting refugeeorganisations to work with the media is a criticalaspect of this.Although public <strong>opinion</strong> is often highlymisinformed, people’s concerns should,nevertheless, be taken seriously. Researchsuggests that systems for responding to theconcerns of people affected by the arrival ofasylum seekers should be developed andinformation provision should be made a keypart of asylum seeker and refugee settlementstrategies.Research suggests that increasing opportunitiesfor contact between groups can help to createmore informed <strong>opinion</strong>s. Agencies could worktogether to encourage such situations andemployers could develop a workplace culturethat fosters contact between groups.Asylum attitudes quotes‘I think on a local level in the villages theconcern is that overnight there will be morethan double the population of the twovillages. Now [if that were] asylum seekers,or anybody else, that in itself would be lifechanging.’Community representative cited in D’Onofrio, L.and Munk, K. (2004) Understanding the stranger.Final report. London: ICAR. Available atHhttp://www.icar.org.uk/pdf/uts003.pdfH.‘A lot of them are criminals, you’ve only gotto read about these Albanians who arerunning prostitution rackets in London…alot of crime is perpetrated by asylumseekers I should imagine.’Local resident cited in Finney, N. (2004) ‘Asylumseeker dispersal: <strong>Public</strong> attitudes and pressportrayals around the UK’. PhD thesis, Universityof Wales Swansea.‘They are getting thousands of pounds forcars, they get mobiles, they getcomputers…they get everything. But like,you see, me and [friend] we’re both singleparents so if we go to get anything, we can’tget it…That’s what gets a lot of people’sbacks up.’Local resident cited in D’Onofrio, L. and Munk,K. (2004) Understanding the stranger. Final report.London: ICAR. Available atHhttp://www.icar.org.uk/pdf/uts003.pdfH.An ICAR report for the CRE concluded that forattitudes initiatives to be successful six keycriteria should be considered: the precise aims,Factsheet - <strong>Key</strong> <strong>issues</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>opinion</strong> on asylum and refugee <strong>issues</strong> (June 2005) Moral rights Nissa Finney © ICAR 2005.

Asylum attitudes quotes‘Any civilised country would welcome asylumseekers… the tabloids and people who say thereare too many asylum seekers don’t appreciatethe types of things they’re running away from.’Local resident cited in Finney, N. (2004) ‘Asylumseeker dispersal: <strong>Public</strong> attitudes and press portrayalsaround the UK’. PhD thesis, University of WalesSwansea.‘Any time there is anything in the media,subsequently there are follow-ups – there areincidents.’Community representative cited in ICAR (2004) Mediaimage, community impact. Assessing the impact of mediaand political images of refugees and asylum seekers oncommunity relations in London. Report of a pilot researchstudy. London: ICAR. Available atHhttp://www.icar.org.uk/pdf/mici004.pdfH.‘I saw a group of boys…the oldest was about ten.They gathered stones and began to throw themat me…I started to run away from them but thatdidn’t stop them.’Refugee cited in Temple, B., Moran, R. et alLearning to live together: developing communitieswith dispersed refugee people seeking asylum. York:Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Available atHhttp://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/0085.aspH.the target audience, the theories ofattitude change upon which to base thedesign of the initiative, the appropriategeographical and time scales, themedia relations strategy to beemployed, and how the initiative will beevaluated. It is important that any effortsand resources devoted to creating moreinformed <strong>opinion</strong>s on asylum are notwasted through poorly planned andimplemented initiatives.Similarly, a Joseph Rowntree Foundationreport concluded that projects that mostsuccessfully challenged prejudice had welldefined objectives; a clear structure; arange of facilitators, presenters andactivities; sustained activities over aperiod of time; reflection on personalattitudes and experiences; and learningthrough doing and experiencing not justtalking. 55HLemos, G. (2005) The search for tolerance:Challenging and changing racist attitudes andbehaviour in young people. York: Joseph RowntreeFoundation. Available atHhttp://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/0135.aspH.HFactsheet - <strong>Key</strong> <strong>issues</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>opinion</strong> on asylum and refugee <strong>issues</strong> (June 2005) Moral rights Nissa Finney © ICAR 2005.

Further readingA full discussion of these <strong>issues</strong> and concepts canbe found in the Navigation guide to public<strong>opinion</strong> on asylum and refugee <strong>issues</strong>,available athttp://www.icar.org.uk/res/nav/keyiss.html.The navigation guide features a full list ofresources and projects. Additional key readingsto those featured on page one are listed below.Article 19 (2003) What’s the story? Results fromresearch into media coverage of refugees and asylumseekers in the UK. London: Article 19.Barclay, A., Bowes, A., Ferguson, I., Sim, D., Valenti,M., Fard, S., and MacIntosh, S. (2003) Asylum seekers inScotland. Edinburgh: Scottish Executive SocialResearch. Available athttp://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/asis-00.asp.Lemos, G. (2005) The search for tolerance:Challenging and changing racist attitudes andbehaviour in young people. York: Joseph RowntreeFoundation. Available athttp://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/0135.asp.Temple, B., Moran, R. et al Learning to livetogether: developing communities with dispersedrefugee people seeking asylum. York: JosephRowntree Foundation. Available athttp://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/0085.asp.Valentine, G. and McDonald, I. for Stonewall(2004) Understanding prejudice. Attitudes towardsminorities. London: Stonewall. Available athttp://www.stonewall.org.uk/docs/Understanding_Prejudice.pdf.Clark, A. (2004) The reporting and recording of racistincidents against asylum seekers in the North East ofEngland. Newcastle: University of Northumbria.Available athttp://online.northumbria.ac.uk/csru/pdfs/NECARS_report.pdf.Author of factsheet: Nissa FinneyHewitt, R.L. (2002) Asylum seeker dispersal andcommunity relations – An analysis of developmentstrategies. London: Goldsmith’s College, University ofLondon.Hollands, M. (2001) ‘Upon closer acquaintance: theimpact of direct contact with refugees on Dutchhosts’ Journal of Refugee Studies 14(3): 295-314.Factsheet - <strong>Key</strong> <strong>issues</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>opinion</strong> on asylum and refugee <strong>issues</strong> (June 2005) Moral rights Nissa Finney © ICAR 2005.