Serbian Citizens Continue to Empathize with Refugees and Migrants

Press Release Shim

Speeches Shim

Serbian Citizens Continue to Empathize with Refugees and Migrants
Event at Mikaliste in Belgrade
Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation

For Immediate Release

Friday, February 10, 2017

Belgrade, February 9, 2017 -  According to the results of the second public opinion survey on Serbian citizen attitudes towards the European migration and refugee crisis, 47 percent of  citizens have positive attitudes towards refugees and migrants, 34 percent have a negative attitude, while 18.5 percent are neutral.  

"In the six month period between the first and second survey, a large percentage of the surveyed population had direct contact with refugees or migrants. This explains why fewer respondents are undecided in their opinion, and slightly more now have a negative attitude towards refugees or migrants. Still, over 90 percent of respondents from municipalities in the south of Serbia continue to have positive attitudes towards refugees and migrants," said Mr. Mehdija Medović, Local Coordinator from Tutin, Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation

The second survey was carried out in December 2016 in Belgrade and seven municipalities most affected by the refugee crisis (Subotica, Šid, Lajkovac, Sjenica, Tutin, Preševo, Dimitrovgrad), as part of the Local Response to Refugee Crisis project, impemented by the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

"A vast mayority of respondents feel that the reception and treatment of refugees and migrants was better in Serbia as compared to other countries on the Balkan route," said Marko Lazović, Research Director of ProPozitiv research agency. 

See http://www.divac.com/upload/document/kljucni_nalazi_istrazivanja_.pdf for full survey results.