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Which are the most anti-immigrant countries in Europe? These are the hotspots

An Afghan immigrant looks through a wooden fence in a factory as he prepares to make a run towards the ferry terminal in the western Greek town of Patras (Getty)
An Afghan immigrant looks through a wooden fence in a factory as he prepares to make a run towards the ferry terminal in the western Greek town of Patras (Getty)

From the coverage of Brexit Britain, you might imagine that our country is a hotspot of racist, nationalist and anti-immigrant sentiment.

But that’s not actually the case, according to a study by American research group Pew Research Center, which analysed sentiments across Western Europe.

Researchers from Pew Research Center created a scale to assess nationalist, anti-immigrant and anti-religious minority feelings.

Italians scored the highest on this ‘NIM’ scale, assessed on a scale of one to 10.

Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center

Italy recently elected a coalition involving the far-right League party, and immigration remains a controversial issue in the country.

Respondents were asked their opinions on whether immigration should be released, and whether Islam is incompatible with their national culture, along with other questions.

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The researchers write, ‘Relatively few adults in every country surveyed score above 5 on the scale. But there is considerable variation across countries.

‘In Sweden, just 8% of those surveyed scored higher than 5, the lowest amount in any country, while in Italy, 38% did, the highest share in any country. In most countries, the share scoring 5.01 or higher was between 15% and 25%.

‘For example, in both Norway and France, 19% of respondents scored 5.01 or higher.’

In most countries, people who identified as Christian scored higher than others – while those who personally knew Muslims tended to score lower.

The researchers write, ‘While younger people tend to score lower on the NIM, statistical analysis suggests that, in Western Europe overall, this has less to do with their age and more to do with factors like religion and familiarity with Muslims.

‘For example, younger Western Europeans are more likely to say they personally know a Muslim and to say they are religiously unaffiliated; both of these factors are closely associated with lower NIM scores.’