20 January 2004	Tuesday	27 Ziqa'ad 1424

LONDON: Four out of 10 white people in Britain do not want an Asian or black Briton as their neighbour, according to a survey published this week.

The opinion poll found rocketing concern about immigration and asylum combined with ignorance about basic facts about the issue and growing resentment.

The Mori survey for Prospect magazine found that 39 per cent of those asked would prefer to live in an area only with people from the same ethnic background. Forty-one per cent of whites and 26 per cent of ethnic minority people surveyed wanted the races to live separately. Over half of all ethnic groups wanted to live in diverse areas.

The poll found older people were most in favour of living apart from other races. Only 40 per cent of people over 55 disagreed with the idea, compared with 64 per cent of 16- to 34-year-olds.

Bobby Duffy, research director at Mori, said: "We have overestimated the progress we have made in race and immigration issues. I'm surprised about such a high finding as people are usually reticent because they worry about being judged by the interviewer, so this finding is worrying."

The poll shows that the issue of race and immigration has risen up the list of people's concerns, and is now the third most important, ahead of crime, defence and the economy. The issue is ranked the most important by 29 per cent, behind education on 33 per cent and the health service on 41 per cent. Ten years ago the figure was below 10 per cent.

Mori said people had a "inflated view of the scale of the issue", with people overestimating the numbers of first-generation immigrants by four times the actual amount. Britons think that first-generation immigrants comprise 23 per cent of the population, while the real figure is 6 per cent.

"It's a monumental shift in people's concerns," Mr Duffy said. "We've seen economic concerns decline and that seems set to continue, and a rise in concern about public services. The issue of race and immigration threatens to dwarf others."

Almost one in five people believe immigrants and asylum seekers are responsible for a loss of community spirit, though 40 per cent believe people working longer hours is to blame, with more than a third saying that people watching television or using the internet is the reason for a drop in community cohesion.

The survey also exposes simmering resentments felt by a large section of those surveyed, with nearly half believing that other people are unfairly getting priority over them in public services and welfare payments. Of the 45 per cent who believe the welfare state treats them as second class citizens, 39 per cent blame asylum seekers and new immigrants.-Dawn/The Guardian News Service.