Poll shows majority of Germans want cap on refugees

A majority of Germans want a cap on the number of asylum seekers taken in each year, according to the results of a poll published on Friday by German press agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur.


The survey conducted by the international Internet-based market research firm YouGov asked 2047 respondents whether they thought an upper limit on refugees, as demanded by the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) party, should be included in the legislative program of the so-called "Jamaica" coalition, a term describing a potential alliance among Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, the CSU, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Green Party (Greens).

A whopping 56 percent respondents were in favor of imposing such a stricter migration control regime, compared to only 28 percent against it.

The CSU wants to limit the annual number of asylum seekers to Germany to 200,000, but faces resistance from its would-be coalition partners. Merkel has repeatedly rejected a fixed cap and is supported by the FDP and the Greens.

According to the YouGov poll, however, 55 percent of CDU/CSU voters are in favor of a refugee limit, compared to 36 percent who oppose the measure.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) party's voters were the most enthusiastic about the CSU's proposal, with 96 percent of voters desiring an annual cap.

The Greens were the only party where a majority of voters (60 percent versus 26 percent) rejected the cap; 69 percent of FDP voters and 54 percent of the supporters of the German Social Democrats were in favor.

According to data released by the German Interior Ministry, the number of asylum seekers in Germany reached 280,000 last year. In 2015, the figure was 890,000.
  [globaltimes.cn/Xinhua]
 7/10/17