Young People’s Attitudes to Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Northern Ireland 2024

Date published: 26 February 2025

This report analyses data from the Young Life and Times (YLT) survey, examining attitudes to refugees and asylum seekers among 16-year-olds in Northern Ireland.

Key Findings

• In 2024, 55% of respondents agreed that "it is our duty to provide protection to refugees who are escaping persecution in their home country". This was a significant decrease from 2023 (63%), and from 2017 (60%), the first year in the time series.
• The proportion of respondents who agreed that Northern Ireland is a society that welcomes refugees escaping persecution in their home country increased significantly between 2017, the first year of the time series, and 2024 (from 25% to 43%).
• In 2024, 63% of respondents agreed that people’s perceptions of refugees and asylum seekers are negatively affected by the media.
• Over one-third (36%) of respondents in 2024 agreed that they would like more opportunities to get to know asylum seekers or refugees. This was a significant decrease from 2023 (44%), the first year in the time series.
• In 2024, just over one-half (51%) of respondents agreed that asylum seekers should have the same access to employment as the rest of the Northern Ireland population.
   

The report and associated data tables are available on the Statistics and Research section of the Executive Office website.