Almost half of Lithuanians not inclined to contribute while receiving refugees

Almost half of Lithuanian residents prefer to remain passive when it comes to the question whether and how the country's residents should contribute to receiving refugees, according to findings of a local institute quoted by local media on Monday.

According to the report of Civitas, a civil society institute, 29 percent of Lithuanian residents would agree to personally contributing to receiving refugees, while 48 percent stated they would not participate either in financial or other material support, nor would they participate in volunteering.

One out of five respondents did not specify their opinion on personal contribution to receiving the soon-to-arrive migrants.

"We can suggest that this part of society will be strongly influenced by the communication of governmental institutions, as well as other public statements, opinions and case stories," Ieva Petronyte, director of Civitas, was quoted as saying in a statement.

According to Petronyte, Lithuania has already decided to accept refugees, therefore, residents of Lithuania should be educated more actively about the issue.

The respondents' answers varied depending on their level of education and place of residence. People with higher education and those with higher incomes tended to be more supportive of refugees, compared with respondents without university degrees or those without secondary education, local website vz.lt quoted the report's findings.

Forty-four percent of respondents with university degrees said they would contribute to receiving refugees, compared with 17 percent from the group of respondents without secondary education who did not agree to do so. In terms of the latter, 63 percent said they would not contribute to the process.

Based on the report, Vilnius seems to be the friendliest city for refugees. A total of 45 percent of Vilnius residents said they were ready to participate when receiving the newcomers. Refugees are the least expected in small Lithuanian towns and regional centers. Fifty-three percent of respondents representing this demographic said they would not contribute to accepting refugees, while 18 percent declared they were ready to participate.

Lithuania may receive the first group of 40 to 50 refugees from war-torn Middle Eastern and African countries this year, with the first groups arriving in November, a special interinstitutional commission said last month.

Lithuania committed to resettling 1,105 refugees from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Eritrea, within two years. Enditem