Australians accepting of refugees: survey

Around four in five Australians agree that refugees fleeing war or persecution should be able to take refuge in the country, a global survey has found.

Australia is also the fifth-highest country willing to accept refugees, according to a survey commissioned by Amnesty International which examined 27 countries.

The group's so-called Refugee Welcome Index comes a day after Immigration Minister Peter Dutton drew fire for claiming an expanded humanitarian intake of refugees would see many "illiterate and innumerate" people taking Australian jobs.

The federal government should reconsider its current refugee intake policy in light of the research, Amnesty International refugee coordinator Graham Thom says.

"Australia has a long history of welcoming refugees and overwhelming approval of the decision to accept 12,000 refugees is testament to that," Dr Thom said.

"Amnesty continues to call on the government to increase the annual humanitarian intake to at least 30,000, prioritising UNHCR-approved refugees and for the resettlement of the 12,000 refugees to be completed fairly and efficiently," he said in a statement on Thursday.

The index was based on a global survey of 27,000 people around the world.

It found 80 per cent of people would accept refugees in their country, but only 32 per cent would want them in their neighbourhood.

China came in as the number one country willing to take in refugees, followed by Germany, the UK and Canada.

REFUGEES WELCOME INDEX

1. China

2. Germany

3. UK

4. Canada

5. Australia

6. Spain

7. Greece

8. Jordan

9. USA

10. Chile

Source: Amnesty International