Poles less willing to help Ukrainian refugees, poll shows
Polish citizens are less and less willing to help Ukrainian refugees who arrive in their country – according to the results of a sociological survey conducted by the research laboratory of the University of Warsaw, RIA Novosti reports
It’s noted that the Poles are still ready to help Ukrainian citizens, but ‘on a much smaller scale’ than in the first time after the start of the Russian special military operation.
“Almost all indicators (and there are several dozen of them) recorded a change in values from unambiguously positive to moderately positive and even moderately negative,” said Dr. Robert Staniszewski, head of the research project.
Thus, only 42 percent of respondents believe that Warsaw must help Ukraine. Previously, this figure stood at 62 percent.
Half of the respondents opposed the admission of Ukrainian refugees. Moreover, compared with previous studies, the number of citizens who believe that Ukrainians should return to their country after the end of the conflict has increased. At the moment, only 21 percent of respondents are in favour of allowing them to settle in Poland permanently. Five months ago, this figure was 37 percent.
Citizens of Poland also have a negative attitude towards the provision of social assistance to Ukrainians. Almost 60 percent of respondents believe that Ukrainian refugees should not be given the same benefits and social guarantees as the Poles.
According to the survey, 49 percent of Polish citizens do not agree that Ukrainians should be provided with free housing and food.
Every third respondent said that recently his attitude towards Ukrainian refugees has changed.
The survey was conducted from May 23rd to June 6th, 2023, involving 584 adult citizens of Poland.
