'No' to asylum in Poland for migrants say majority of Poles - study

The results of a new CBOS poll released on Monday reveal that 58 percent of Poles do not want migrants from the Belarusian side of the border to have an opportunity to apply for asylum in Poland.

According to the canvass, one-third of the respondents (33 percent) said that migrants should have the possibility to apply for asylum in the country.

Compared to a previous poll in September, there were fewer people who did not have a specific opinion on the issue (a decrease of 6 percentage points), which translated into a sharpening of the opposition (an increase by 6 percentage points), reported CBOS.

"There is still a reluctance to allow migrants... access the asylum procedure," said CBOS.

The pollster also stated that 66 percent of those surveyed were in favor of the construction of barriers on the Polish-Belarusian border to curb illegal entry attempts to Poland, while 26 percent were against the idea.

Moreover, 54 percent of the pollees supported the steps taken by the Polish government in the border crisis, and 34 percent criticised its undertakings.

Opposition against granting asylum to migrants was the highest in the 25-34 age group, among the inhabitants of small towns, people with low incomes, and groups such as farmers, labourers and right-wing voters. Most of those in favour were between the ages of 18 and 24, who were urban dwellers and left-wing supporters, CBOS wrote.

CBOS ran the survey on November 29-December 12 on a representative sample of 1,063 adult Poles.