Poll taken before Trump order found most Europeans support ban on migration from Muslim-majority countries

by WorldTribune Staff, February 8, 2017

The majority of Europeans in a new poll favored halting all future immigration from Muslim-majority countries.

An average of 55 percent of respondents in the 10 European countries surveyed favored a ban on immigration from Muslim-majority countries. Just 20 percent opposed the ban while 25 percent were unsure.

Refugees break through a barbed-wire fence on the Greece-Macedonia border. /Getty Images

The Chatham House study was conducted before U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning immigration to the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

The poll found majorities in 8 of the 10 countries opposed immigration from mainly Muslim countries.

The 10 countries in the poll were Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Austria, the UK, Hungary and Poland.

An immigration ban was supported by 71 percent of people in Poland, 65 percent in Austria, 53 percent in Germany and 51 percent in Italy. In the UK, 47 percent supported a ban. In no country did more than 32 percent disagree with a ban.

The poll backs up other research about attitudes towards Muslims in Europe.

A Pew survey of 10 European countries in 2016 found majorities in five countries had an unfavorable view of Muslims living in their country.

Of those, 72 percent of Hungarians had a negative view of Muslims, followed by 69 percent of Italians, 66 percent of Poles, 65 percent of Greeks and 50 percent of Spaniards.

In the UK, only 28 percent said they had an unfavorable view of Muslims, while in Germany and France 29 percent said the same.

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