Enemy at the Gates? Or How Students of Law from Four Largest Croatian Cities Perceive Refugees and Migrants from the Middle East

U radu se analiziraju stavovi studenata pravnih fakulteta o migrantima s Bliskog istoka i azilantima u Republici Hrvatskoj. Podaci su prikupljeni metodom ankete sredinom 2019. godine na pravnim fakultetima u Zagrebu, Rijeci, Splitu i Osijeku (N = 667). Konceptualni okvir za objašnjenje tih stavova primarno nalazimo u teorijama konfliktnog pristupa, tj. teoriji grupne prijetnje i teoriji integrirane prijetnje. U tom kontekstu analizira se kako studenti prava doživljavaju migrante s Bliskog istoka i azilante u Hrvatskoj te smatraju li ih stvarnom ili simboličnom prijetnjom za Hrvatsku i zemlje EU-a. U radu se također ispituju razlike u stavovima među studentima različitih sociodemografskih i sociokulturnih karakteristika. Rezultati su pokazali da su politička orijentacija, stupanj (ne)religioznosti i gradovi iz kojih ispitanici dolaze značajno povezani sa stavovima studenta prema migrantima i azilantima. Također se pokazalo da postoji značajna povezanost između stavova prema azilantima u RH i općenitih stavova koje ispitanici imaju prema migrantima s Bliskog istoka, pri čemu najsnažniji, pozitivni učinak na stavove o migrantima imaju spremnost na bliskost i kulturna otvorenost prema azilantima te izostanak percepcije azilanata kao potencijalne ili stvarne prijetnje za društvo u koje dolaze.In this paper the authors analyse the attitudes of law students towards migrants from the Middle East and refugees in the Republic of Croatia. Survey was conducted in 2019 at four Croatian faculties of law: in Zagreb, Rijeka, Split and Osijek (N=667). The conceptual framework was primarily based in conflict theories, i.e., group threat theory and integrated threat theory. The aim of the study was to analyse how students of law perceive migrants from the Middle East and refugees in Croatia, and whether they consider them to be a real or symbolic threat to Croatia and EU countries. The paper also examines differences in attitudes among students of different sociodemographic and sociocultural characteristics. The results showed that political orientation, degree of (non)religiosity and cities from which respondents come are significantly related to students’ attitudes towards migrants and refugees. It has also been determined that there is a significant correlation between the attitudes towards refugees in the Republic of Croatia and the general attitudes of respondents towards migrants from the Middle East. The strongest, positive effect on these attitudes had the readiness for closeness and cultural openness towards refugees and lack of perception that refugees pose potential or real threat to society in which they are moving to