Czech Republic: Tolerance of Muslims poll

Czechs are far more tolerant of foreigners coming from western countries than of those coming from the East, and they show the lowest tolerance for Romanies, according to a poll the STEM agency conducted in April and released to CTK Tuesday.


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A total of 85 percent of respondents said it would be unpleasant to them, would hardly cope with it or would consider it unacceptable if they lived next to Afghans or Chechens.

Eight in ten Czechs would mind being the neighbours of Arabs. Three-quarters would mind Ukrainians, the Chinese and Vietnamese as neighbours, the poll showed.

"The differences ensue from the [different] geographical and cultural closeness of Czechs to members of various nations and ethnic groups, and also from the historical as well as quite recent experience the Czechs have with them," STEM analysts said.

They said the Czechs widely view Ukrainians, Russians and Vietnamese as a cheap workforce and obscure peddlers forming their own closed communities.

As far as Arabs, Chechens and Afghans are concerned, many Czechs link fears of terrorism with them, STEM found out.

A half of those polled said they believed Czechs approach foreigners without prejudices, while the other half said they doubt this.

The number of foreigners in the 10-million Czech Republic has been increasing. A total of 402,320 legally lived in the country at the end of March.

Source: Prague Monitor (English)