Only one in five Slovaks would welcome refugees

Only 18 percent of Slovaks would be in favour of refugees settling in Slovakia according to a survey done for the "Plea for Humanity" initiative in early September. One in six Slovaks would agree with the building of a refugee camp in their home locality and 44 percent of respondents would like to know more about immigrants; mainly about their religion, reasons for leaving their country and their future plans, while 40 percent believe that the topic of migration will play a role in how they will vote in next year's Parliamentary elections. "The fear of the unknown, security risks and the potential failure of refugees to adapt to a different culture are the reasons behind such behaviour. In addition to this, respondents have the strong perception of Slovakia being a small country with insufficient technical, financial, and human capacity to deal with refugees. Slovaks also feel the priority should be to address their own problems", reads a statement from the "Plea for Humanity" initiative.