Where can refugees find a welcome in Europe? Sweden leads the way

IF STATISTICS alone are the judge, the staggering 800 000 to 1 million refugees who are expected to apply for asylum in Germany this year have put the country streets ahead of all its neighbours in the EU’s response to the worst refugee crisis to hit Europe since World War II.

But even in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel has insisted that the nation is well equipped to meet the refugee crisis, not everything is perfect.

Across the rest of the EU, the reaction has been decidedly chequered.

Germany continues to be plagued by far-right attacks on refugee accommodation and the police say there have been at least 200 such incidents this year alone.

Asylum seekers’ homes have been torched or surrounded by mobs of local residents and right wingers screaming “filth out”.

A survey published this weekend showed the country is divided. While 36 percent of people in the former West Germany feared the consequences of the refugee influx, in the former communist East Germany, 46 percent said they were worried or felt threatened.

Across the rest of Europe, Sweden appears to be the only EU country with a majority positively disposed towards foreign non-EU immigration.

At the bottom of the list come Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia and Latvia. They are followed closely by Hungary, Bulgaria and Greece, where between 22 and 28 percent of the population is positive towards non-EU immigration. Antiforeigner sentiment in these countries may explain why their governments adopt a similarly hard line and have resolutely refused to accept the idea of refugee quotas.

Robert Fico, Slovakia’s prime minister, recently echoed his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban, by insisting his country was a “Christian” nation which did not want to accept Muslim refugees. In the most heavily populated EU member-states including Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, and Belgium, a range of between 49 and 29 percent have a positive view of non-EU immigration.

Germany’s registration of applicants has accounted for up 40 percent of the total – half of which were made up of Syrians, Afghans and Kosovars.

That was followed by Hungary which, despite the hardline attitude of its government, accepted 32 000 new applications. Italy came third, followed by France and Sweden.

EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker was on Sunday reported to be considering fines for EU countries that refuse to take part in a refugee distribution system. – The Independent