From welcome culture to welcome limits? Uncovering preference changes over time for sheltering refugees in Germany

Abstract

Europe recently experienced a large influx of refugees, spurring much public debate about the admission and integration of refugees and migrants into society. Previous research based on cross-sectional data found that European citizens generally favour asylum seekers with high employability, severe vulnerabilities, and Christians over Muslims. These preferences and attitudes were found to be homogeneous across countries and socio-demographic groups. Here, we do not study the general acceptance of asylum seekers, but the acceptance of refugee and migrant homes in citizens’ vicinity and how it changes over time. Based on a repeated stated choice experiment on preferences for refugee and migrant homes, we show that the initially promoted “welcome culture” towards refugees in Germany was not reflected in the views of a majority of a sample of German citizens who rather disapproved refugee homes in their vicinity. Their preferences have not changed between November 2015, the peak of “welcome culture,” and November 2016, after political debates, media reporting and public discourse had shifted towards limiting admission of immigrants. A minority of one fifth of the sample population, who were initially rather approving of refugee and migrant homes being established in their vicinity, were more likely to change their preferences towards a rather disapproving position in 2016. Experience of contact with refugees and migrants, higher education, and general pro-immigration attitudes explain acceptance of refugee and migrant homes as well as preference stability over time. Country of origin and religion of refugees and migrants are considered less important than decent housing conditions and whether refugee and migrants arrive as families or single persons. In this respect our results highlight the importance of humanitarian aspects of sheltering and integration of refugees and other migrants into society.

The 2015 European Refugee Crisis and Residential Housing Rents in Germany

“…It also reviews the existing literature on migration (economic or forced) and housing markets. 3 A repeated choice experiment by Liebe et al (2018) provides evidence which is consistent with this reading of our results. Investigating the attitudes of Germans towards refugee accommodations in their neighborhoods, the study finds that the majority of Germans rather disapprove of refugee housing in proximity of their neighborhoods and that this view has not changed over the twelve months since November 2015, i.e.…”

“…The study also found that about one fifth of the surveyed population which had formerly rather approved of the establishment of refugee accommodations in their vicinity no longer did so in 2016. According to Liebe et al (2018), this change in attitude may, at least in part, be attributable to growth in 'not in my backyard' (NIMBY) perceptions (Dear, 1992) among the surveyed population.…”

First Impressions of Faces of Refugees are More Strongly Influenced by Target Cues and Perceiver Attitudes Than by Sheer Group Affiliation

“…By focusing on Middle Eastern Muslim refugees, we can also contribute to a better understanding of prejudiced perception toward a so-far underrepresented but highly relevant group of targets. Whereas public debates about refugees are ubiquitious and controversial (Chouliaraki & Zaborowski, 2017;Czymara & Schmidt-Catran, 2017;Hager & Veit, 2019;Jäckle & König, 2017;Liebe, Meyerhoff, Kroesen, Chorus, & Glenk, 2018), the current scientifc understanding of refugee perception is limited (Bansak, Hainmueller, & Hangartner, 2016;Kotzur, Forsbach, & Wagner, 2017;Kotzur, Friehs, Asbrock, & Zalk, 2019).…”

Overcoming obstacles along the pathway to integration for Syrian healthcare professionals in Germany

“…An increasing number of Germans consider refugees to be a threat to German culture and to be responsible for increasing crime. 24 This is combined with antiimmigrant, anti-Muslim and anti-European stances, which has become more prominent on the back of the refugee crisis. 24 Alongside this, the scale of numbers of asylum seekers has required tremendous resources from the government in terms of: social integration, integration into the labour market, health and education.…”

“…24 This is combined with antiimmigrant, anti-Muslim and anti-European stances, which has become more prominent on the back of the refugee crisis. 24 Alongside this, the scale of numbers of asylum seekers has required tremendous resources from the government in terms of: social integration, integration into the labour market, health and education. In 2015, social welfare payments amounted to 5.3 billion euros (169% more than in 2014) and in 2016, the figure was 21.7 billion euros for refugee-associated expenditure.…”