"Belgians display a very negative attitude towards migrants"

United Nations figures show that global migration involved some 230 million people in 2013. This is compared to 150 million in 1990. Increased immigration levels trigger more tension between natives and newcomers, especially in developed countries.

The polling bureau Ipsos questioned local residents from 24 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas about their attitude towards migrants. The results are surprising: half of the respondents thinks there are too many migrants in his/her country and that these have a negative impact on the development of their country.

In Belgium, 61 per cent of the respondents finds that immigrant numbers are too far up. This puts Belgium in 5th place, after Turkey (91%), Italy, Russia and South-Africa. Germany, the European country accommodating the highest number of immigrants, has a figure of 'only' 43%. 

Does migration have a negative impact on the country? 58% of the Belgian respondents answers 'yes'. This puts Belgium in 4th place in the list of 24, behind Turkey, Italy and Russia.

A small majority of the Belgians (52%) is convinced that it's harder to find a job due to immigrants. This puts Belgium on number 7. At the same time, 56 % estimates that the burden migrants are putting on public services is too heavy.

Only 12 out of 100 of the Belgians taking part in the poll are of the opinion that migrants have a positive influence on the development of their nation. This puts Belgium well below the average of 24% for the 24 countries together.

The results are based on an online poll by Ipsos. The Belgian part involved 500 respondents. The margin error was calculated at 5%.