French are more positive on immigrants, poll shows

By Meg Bortin
Published: May 24, 2007

PARIS: France has the most immigrant-friendly population of the major European powers, with more than half of those polled in a new international survey viewing the number of immigrants in their country as "about right."

The six-nation poll, carried out this month before and after Nicolas Sarkozy, a hard-liner on immigration, was elected president of France, found that the French were also more likely than Britons, Germans, Italians, Spaniards and Americans to have invited a member of an ethnic minority home for dinner.

The British emerged as the population least-welcoming of immigrants, according to the poll, which was conducted online for the International Herald Tribune and the French television station France 24 by Harris Interactive, and surveyed 6,585 adults in the six countries from May 2 to May 14. The election was held on May 6.

In France, 52 percent of the respondents viewed the number of immigrants residing in the country as "about right," the poll found. In Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain, far fewer respondents held that view, with most saying there were "too many" immigrants. Two-thirds of Britons felt this way, as did 55 percent of Germans and Italians. In Spain, 45 percent said there were too many immigrants, while 28 percent said the number was about right.

In the United States, a country where many families still remember their immigrant roots, 43 percent said the number of immigrants now was about right, while 35 percent said there were too many foreign-born residents. Leia mais aqui no International Herald Tribune