A total of 74 percent of Poles are against the country accepting refugees from the Middle East and Africa, according to pollster CBOS.

The figure was up from just over half in a similar survey in January.

About one in five of those polled supported the relocation of refugees to Poland, while the rest had no opinion.

The poll asked specifically about the relocation of migrants from camps in countries along Europe's Mediterranean coast under an EU decision that each bloc country would accept a number of asylum seekers over two years.

The decision, taken in September 2015, aimed to alleviate the pressure on Greece and Italy, which have seen the arrival of tens of thousands of asylum seekers from the Middle East.

EU leaders agreed to relocate a total of about 160,000 refugees of more than two million people who arrived in Europe since 2015.

However, only 14,000 people from refugee camps in countries along the Mediterranean coast have been relocated in the EU. Poland has not yet taken in any of the refugees – the country had been obliged to accept 6,200.

The CBOS survey showed a correlation between opinions on accepting migrants and political preferences.

About 90 percent of those who said they would vote for the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party or the Kukiz'15 party were against accepting migrants, while those who would vote for the Civic Platform (PO) and Nowoczesna (Modern) parties were split, with those in favour and against the relocation scheme almost equal.

People who lived in cities, with a tertiary education, and had higher incomes were most favourable of accepting migrants.

The CBOS survey also showed that Poles were more open to accepting refugees from western Ukraine, with 55 percent of those polled for and 40 percent against. (vb/rg)

Source: PAP