Christians in Europe less tolerant of immigrants

Around a third of Germans would not accept a Muslim into their family, and a fifth would not accept a Jew as a family member, a study has found.

The results of the report by the US-based Pew Research Center, released on Tuesday, have come amid heightened anxiety about Islam and anti-Semitism in Germany.

Read more: German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer: 'Islam doesn't belong to Germany'

What the study found

• 19 percent of Germans polled responded negatively to the question: "Would you be willing to accept a Jew as a family member?"
• Among the 15 European countries included in the study, the percentage of respondents who said they would not accept a Jewish family member was highest in Italy (25 percent), Britain (23 percent) and Austria (21 percent). The Netherlands and Norway had the lowest (3 percent).
• 33 percent of Germans responded negatively to accepting a Muslim as a family member.
• The percentage of respondents who said they would not accept a Muslim into their family was highest in Italy (43 percent), Britain (36 percent) and Austria (34 percent).
• The willingness to accept Muslim family members differed greatly between German Catholics and Protestants. More than half of Catholics said they would not accept a Muslim, but only 16 percent of Protestants.
• Overall, the results showed that practicing and non-practicing Christians across Europe were more intolerant of Muslims, Jews and immigrants than Europeans who do not identify as being religious.

How did Pew conduct the study? Pew surveyed 24,599 randomly selected adults across 15 Western European countries between April and August 2017. They categorized respondents according to whether they identified themselves as practicing Christian, non-practicing Christian or religiously unaffiliated.

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German angst: Millions of refugees and migrants have arrived in Germany from the Middle East and Africa since 2015. The arrivals have sparked an anti-immigrant backlash and renewed political debates about the role of Islam in Germany. Some politicians have also linked the new arrivals to a rise in anti-Semitism.

Read more: German headscarf ban for children met with mixed response

amp/cmk (AP, dpa)

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