Jewish migrants are preferred by Britons to Muslims, who are in turn preferred to Romas.
This is according to a new study by the Centre for Social Investigation in Nuffield College, Oxford, which traced different attitudes towards immigration in Europe. The figures also revealed that negative attitudes towards migrants did not correlate to high levels of immigration.
The study found only seven per cent of people would not allow Jewish migrants compared to 17 per cent who would not allow Muslims and 30 per cent who would not allow Roma migrants. Despite the disparity, the figures showed the UK was more favourable towards Muslim migrants than other European states. The data from 20 other European nations found 10 per cent wanted to block Jews and more than a quarter wanted to ban Muslims.
The co-author of the report Lindsay Richards said the favourable attitude towards Jewish people was down to their long-term persecution. She added the UK's relatively relaxed attitude towards Muslims was because many people had grown used to them.
"The more Muslims there are, the more members of the general population will have come into contact with them and therefore are less likely to be hostile to them. I think the negative attitude toward Roma maybe shows that generally people have not had contact with them," she said in the Times.
The figures also revealed that countries with negative attitudes towards migrants often did not have high rates of immigration. In Sweden and Norway, two nations with relatively high net migration, have a favourable attitude towards immigrants. This is compared to Slovenia and Hungary, which have negative attitudes towards migrants yet have net migration close to zero.
