Exclusion of Legal Migrants in Western Europe

Abstract

Migration has become a major issue in most European countries. The influx of ethnic migrants has created considerable controversy among local populations, some 33% of whom were found to be racists in a 1997 Eurobarometer survey of 13,000 respondents in 15 European countries. These & other data were drawn on to examine one particular aspect of ethnic exclusionism -- the opposition of a country's citizens to granting civil rights to legal migrants. Perceived ethnic threat & ethnic competition were found to be major factors in ethnic exclusionism. The citizens most concerned about losing jobs & social resources to migrants held the most exclusionist attitudes. To ensure their own rights & position, they pushed their governments to restrict further immigration & to deny civil rights to immigrants already there. Tables, Figures.