Attitudes to immigrants harden due to downturn

Negative attitudes towards immigrants have hardened in recession-hit countries such as Ireland, Spain, and Greece, a study by the Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick has found.

It also showed attitudes to immigrant are significantly more positive in more affluent countries such as Sweden and Denmark.

The authors of the study say fluctuations in economic conditions, such as the rise in unemployment, appear to affect attitudes towards immigrants. In Ireland, a significant rise in negative attitudes occurred between 2006 and 2010, a period of economic turbulence and high unemployment.

Negative sentiment to immigrants in Ireland increased, despite the ethnic and cultural similarity of the largest group of immigrants — mainly Polish — to the native population.

Christine Cross, one of the study’s authors, said “it may be the case that these countries with a relatively short history of sizeable inward immigration have yet to cope with the adjustment required by downturns in the economic cycle in a multi-ethnic society”.

Co-author Tom Turner said: “Perhaps the most intriguing finding from the study is the sizeable gap between the ratio of people in Sweden and Denmark willing to continue to allow immigrants into their country, compared to the low numbers in other European countries.

“Clearly, other cultural, historical and political influences, besides economic factors, act to form and inform attitudes towards the impact of immigrants.

“Given the depth of the recession being currently experienced across Europe and the projected need for immigrant labour into the short-term future, attitudes are of significant concern for all those involved in migrant policy formulation.”