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Poll shows most Europeans sympathise with Syrian refugees

The Ipsos MORI survey also showed that less than a third of the roughly 12,000 people polled across EU countries believe refugees are a risk to national security despite a number of recent attacks involving refugees

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Syrian refugees arrive at the camp for refugees and migrants in Friedland, Germany April 4, 2016.
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 More than three-quarters of Europeans sympathise with Syrian refugees coming to their countries, a poll found on Friday, challenging reports of growing anti-immigration sentiment across the continent.

Ireland topped the poll of European countries that are most supportive of Syrian refugees with 87% of people interviewed there showing sympathy for them, while Slovakia ranked bottom. The Ipsos MORI survey also showed that less than a third of the roughly 12,000 people polled across 12 EU countries believe refugees are a risk to national security despite a number of recent attacks involving refugees.

"These findings show that Europeans have not lost their hearts," said David Miliband, CEO of International Rescue Committee (IRC), an aid organisation which commissioned the poll. The survey comes as Europe grapples with its worst migration crisis since World War Two. More than one million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere reached Europe in 2015.

Syrians made up 28% of the 2015 arrivals, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. Of the people polled, 30% said one of their top three concerns was that refugees posed a security threat.

The survey was published as anti-immigration parties make gains in several EU countries. Earlier in September, German Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged that her liberal refugee policy contributed to a humiliating state election rout on September 4, where her Christian Democrats (CDU) finished third behind the surging anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Nationalist, anti-immigration parties are also leading opinion polls in France and the Netherlands ahead of general elections in 2017. "At a time when toxic rhetoric has found its way into the political mainstream, there is a clear call here for governments to combine compassion with competence in responding to the refugee crisis," Miliband said in a statement. "The refugee crisis is a human tragedy but it does not need to become a political disaster". 

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