Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Rise In Negative Sentiment Against Immigrants In Germany: Economic Concerns Or Something More?, Hannah Byrd

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Politicians with xenophobic and anti-immigration policies often cite the economic insecurity that immigrants create as justification. The refugee crisis in Syria and other areas of the Middle East has made immigration a salient topic in the western world and especially in the European Union (EU) in recent years. Germany leads the EU in receiving asylum seekers from the crisis and historically has a welcoming culture or willkommenskultur to refugees; it has also experienced a rise in negative sentiment against immigrants. This paper seeks to find if economic insecurity has caused negative sentiment against immigrants to rise in Germany. A comparison …