“We Do Not Need This Chaos”: Attitudes of the Lithuanian People Towards Refugees

Abstract

This article analyses attitudes of the Lithuanian people towards refugees, and is based on the empirical research carried out at the Institute of Sociology, Lithuanian Social Research Centre, in 2016. Taking into consideration the results of the previous research on the factors that determine the attitudes towards refugees, this article looks at the peculiarities of the attitudes of the Lithuanian people. The article argues that people are very sceptical and concerned about refugees coming to Lithuania and, in particular, tend to place first the negative consequences of migration. The attitudes of the people are determined by general intolerance towards ‘other’ people, as well as by the negative image of the refugees created by the media.