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Canada is the most migrant friendly country in the world, according to Gallup

This is Gallup’s second administration of its Migrant Acceptance Index.
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Tima Kurdi, touches a photo of her nephews Alan, left, and Ghalib Kurdi while speaking to the media outside her home in Coquitlam, B.C., on Thursday September 3, 2015. Alan, his older brother Ghalib and their mother Rehan died as they tried to reach Europe from Syria. The uncle of the three-year-old Syrian boy whose lifeless body has put a devastating human face on the Syrian refugee crisis has assailed Canada’s refugee process. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Canada has been ranked the most accepting of migrants among all the countries on Earth, according to a Gallup’s Migrant Acceptance Index.

The global analytics and advice firm released its ranking late last month based on data from 2019. While overall, the world became less accepting of migrants, Canada rose up to the top of the list score of 8.46 out of nine on the index. Iceland came in second at 8.41 and New Zealand third at 8.41. The United States came in sixth with a score of 7.95.

Scores in the U.S. depended largely on political affiliation, with those who approved of President Donald Trump scoring a 7.10 out of nine, compared to disapproving Americans at 8.59. Young Americans were also more accepting of migrants than older ones.

In Canada, those who approved of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were only slightly more accepting of migrants at 8.73 versus 8.21 for the disapproving respondents. There was little difference in how accepting various age groups were.

The three countries that were least accepting of migrants were North Macedonia at 1.49, Hungary at 1.64 and Serbia at 1.79.

Gallup’s Migrant Acceptance Index was created from strong global reactions to the migrant crisis in Europe in 2015, which caught the world’s attention when photos of three-year-old Alan Kurdi’s body washed up on a Turkish beach circulated across the internet.

RAED MORE: Irregular migrants to be turned away at U.S.-Canada border


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katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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