To assess the British publics’ perceptions relating to refugees, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of over 2,000 GB adults aged 18+.

To determine how sympathetic the British public really are to refugees, we presented respondents with a commonly accepted definition of a refugee (rather than using the word itself), and asked their level of sympathy towards this group coming to the UK. This approach ensured that respondents would not confuse refugees with economic migrants.

It was found that the great majority were indeed sympathetic to refugees when it was ensured the term was properly understood. In addition, asked respondents to tell us where they thought refugees to the UK came from – many respondents indicated they thought refugees primarily came from Eastern European countries such as Poland, supporting the belief that refugees are commonly confused with economic migrants.

Furthermore, supporting the belief that public/ media perceptions of the number of refugees coming into Britain are often largely inflated, we also discovered that 44% of Britons believe 100,000 or more individuals were granted refugee status in the UK in 2009 – while the actual number was just 4,175.

Finally, when provided with factual information about the UN convention, the findings of the survey also showed that six out of ten (59%) Britons believe that the UN Convention is just as relevant or more relevant for protecting people fleeing conflict today than it was in 1951.