Chinese and Germans the most welcoming of refugees, Russians the least: survey

China is the most welcoming country when it comes to refugees, according to a new survey of citizens' attitudes published on Thursday. Germany ranked second and Britain third.

In its first ever report to record global acceptance of refugees, Amnesty International surveyed more than 27,000 people across 27 countries and found that 80 percent of respondents would welcome refugees into their city, neighborhoods or homes.

The survey did not sample attitudes in Japan, a nation that granted refugee status to only 11 people out of more than 5,000 applicants in 2014.

Nearly three-quarters of people surveyed said people escaping war or persecution should be allowed to seek asylum in other countries.

One in 10 respondents said they would let refugees stay in their home, with nearly half of all Chinese surveyed offering hospitality in their homes for refugees.

Almost all Germans surveyed and 87 percent of Britons said they would allow refugees into their countries. But 17 percent of respondents said they should not be allowed into their country at all.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced months of accusations of being too open to migrants, with Germany taking in 1.1 million migrants last year.

The least welcoming country was Russia, where 61 percent of people surveyed said they would not let refugees in.

Poland, Hungary and other former communist East European states say immigration, especially from the Muslim cultures of the Middle East, would disrupt their homogeneous societies.

Although 86 percent of Chinese participants agreed that governments should do more to help, the Chinese government remains reluctant to resettle refugees fleeing wars or persecution.

According to recent U.N. refugee agency data, China, Russia and no Persian Gulf states have resettled Syrian refugees since the war began.

The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit is being held in Istanbul next week as the number of people who have been forced from their homes globally hits record levels.

Aid agencies and campaigners will ask governments to commit to tackling forced displacement in a new way — that meets the immediate needs of displaced people and builds their resilience and self-reliance.

UNHCR has said the number of people forcibly displaced worldwide was likely to have "far surpassed" a record 60 million in 2015, including 20 million refugees driven by the Syrian war and other drawn-out conflicts.