Canada ranks 4th out of 27 countries in a new Amnesty International index that measures public acceptance of refugees.
The human rights group commissioned GlobeScan strategy consultancy to find out people鈥檚 willingness to allow refugees to live in their homes, neighbourhoods, towns and countries.
Based on a of more than 27,000 people, conducted between Dec. 2015 and April 2016, the Refugee Welcome Index released Thursday ranks countries on a scale of zero to 100, with zero meaning respondents would refuse refugees entering their country and 100 meaning they would accept them in their neighbourhood or home.
China (85 per cent) topped the rankings as the most accepting country followed by Germany (84 per cent) and the U.K. (83 per cent).The least support for more government action on refugees came from Russia (26 per cent), Thailand (29 per cent) and India (40 per cent).
The global survey found that 80 per cent of people would accept refugees in their country while one in 10 respondents would go a step further and take them in to their homes. Amnesty鈥檚 Secretary General, Salil Shetty, said the organization was surprised by the global support for helping refugees.
鈥淲e did not expect to see such strong levels of solidarity with refugees, but the results reflect the inspiring human compassion people feel to those fleeing war. They want to do what they can to help, not turn their backs,鈥� he said in a statement.
In Canada, 43 per cent of Canadians responded they would welcome refugees in their neighbourhoods and 80 per cent said they would accept them in their country. Canadian support for access to asylum was particularly strong with 87 per cent of people questioned saying they strongly endorse the right of refugees to escape to other countries from war or persecution.
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a pledge that Canada would take in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2015, the target was met by the end of February. To date, Canada has accepted more than 27,000 Syrian refugees since November.
'Governments out of touch'
Amnesty International says the survey exposes the 鈥渟hameful鈥� way governments are handling the refugee crisis.
鈥淭hese figures speak for themselves. People are ready to make refugees welcome, but governments鈥� inhumane responses to the refugee crisis are badly out of touch with the views of their own citizens,鈥� Shetty said.
According to The Refugee Welcome Index, 66 per cent of people think their governments should do more to help, including countries that are in the heart of the crisis such as Germany (76 per cent), Greece (74 per cent) and Jordan (84 per cent).
鈥淧eople seem to be more committed to principles set down in international law than many of their governments, who are increasingly tearing up or ignoring commitments that have stood for 65 years,鈥� Shetty said.
