The Executive Office has published its Attitudes to Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Northern Ireland 2025 report.
The report analyses data from the Northern Ireland Life and Times survey and examines public attitudes to refugees and asylum seekers. It found that agreement with five of the six statements analysed fell to the lowest recorded level in 2025.
For each of those five statements, the proportion agreeing in 2025 was statistically significantly lower than in every previous year in which the question had been asked. The Executive Office said 49% of respondents agreed that asylum seekers should be allowed to stay in Northern Ireland, a lower figure than in each year from 2018 to 2024.
The report found that 27% of respondents agreed Northern Ireland is a society that welcomes refugees escaping persecution in their home country. That was a significant decrease from the figure for each year from 2019 to 2024.
It also found that 57% agreed it is society’s duty to provide protection to refugees escaping persecution, again a significant decrease from each year from 2019 to 2024. The proportion agreeing that refugees contribute to society was 41%, down from 53% in 2023 and 50% in 2024.
The share of respondents who said they would like more opportunities to get to know asylum seekers or refugees was 37%, down from 44% in 2023 and 47% in 2024. The report found no change between 2024 and 2025 in the proportion agreeing that media negatively affects perceptions of refugees and asylum seekers, with both years at 69%.