‘We are scapegoats’: The rise of anti-migrant anger in Poland

2 weeks ago 13

It started with a convulsive crime. In June, successful the centre of Torun, central-north Poland, a Venezuelan antheral stabbed 24-year-old Klaudia, a Polish woman, to decease arsenic she was walking location from enactment done a park.

That horrific incidental led to a soundless march by thousands of protesters done Torun connected Sunday, July 6. Local media reported that the march had been organised by supporters of the far-right Konfederacja governmental confederation and radical carried signs saying “stop amerciable immigration”.

Then came the rumours and misinformation. On July 14, idiosyncratic successful Walbrzych, southwestern Poland, called the constabulary to study a Paraguayan antheral who had allegedly taken pictures of children connected a playground.

The constabulary stopped the antheral but did not find thing incriminating connected his phone. That didn’t halt 2 Polish men from beating him up soon afterwards. And, the adjacent day, a radical of astir 50 radical stormed the hostel helium and different migrants were surviving in. Some radical threw flares into the building, and the proprietor has since been forced to adjacent the hostel down.

In caller weeks, anti-migrant sentiment successful Poland has been connected the rise, spurred by far-right rhetoric, which asserts that Poland has been flooded with “unconstrained amerciable migration”. Claims that migrants instrumentality section jobs and that they airs a menace to Poles some physically and figuratively, with their “foreign lifestyle”, are communal and adjacent encouraged by lawmakers.

One MP from Konfederacja – Konrad Berkowicz from Krakow – told TOK FM radio: “Xenophobia is an important constituent of our nationalist unity. Condemning xenophobia and stifling it successful the West has led to rapes and violent acts, that’s wherefore we should cherish xenophobia.”

Elmi Abdi, 62, a Somali who came to Poland successful 1996 arsenic a refugee, told Al Jazeera: “Today, migrants are seen arsenic liable for each of Poland’s problems; we are scapegoats that each parties attack, adjacent though politicians cognize it’s each untrue.” Today, Abdi is caput of the Good Start foundation, which supports migrants, offering assistance with entree to connection classes, ineligible assistance and different matters.

“It is bittersweet due to the fact that we [immigrants] bash everything to enactment safely here, wage taxes, and integrate into society.”

As misinformation – specified arsenic successful the Walbrzych incidental – astir immigrants spreads, the Polish Migration Forum, a rights group, has called the ambiance successful Poland “pre-pogrom-like”.

“What distinguishes today’s concern is the violence. We are successful a precise atrocious place,” said Agnieszka Kosowicz, caput of the forum. “Acts of unit already instrumentality place, radical are taxable to insults, threats and displays of hostility and contempt. This is simply a precise alarming concern that requires a decisive effect from the state.”

Rumours of ‘illegal returns’

On July 7, Poland reinstated borderline controls with Germany and Lithuania. That followed akin restrictions Germany imposed earlier successful the twelvemonth to discourage asylum seekers from entering done Poland.

Poland is besides present actively monitoring the instrumentality of migrants – some asylum and non-asylum seekers – by the German police, arsenic per European Union rules. These are radical who arrived successful Poland from extracurricular the EU earlier crossing to Germany.

These returns of migrants by the German authorities are legal, but arsenic rumours connected the net astir “illegal returns” of migrants proceed to spread, unofficial, far-right patrols person appeared astatine the borders to show the concern and marque “citizen arrests” of individuals they judge to beryllium entering the state illegally – truthful acold without overmuch success.

The EU accused Belarusian and Russian authorities of fomenting the EU’s migration situation to destabilise the continent, by encouraging radical from the Global South to question to Belarus and past onwards into Europe via Poland.

In 2022, Poland built a obstruction on the borderline with Belarus to forestall migrants from entering the state irregularly. The fence, however, did small to physically halt migrants from coming in.

So, successful March this year, Poland suspended the close to assertion asylum altogether successful a bid to deter radical from coming.

All of this has served to disturbance up anti-migrant fearfulness successful Poland, which has been further amplified by far-right groups for their ain governmental purposes.

‘We are being humiliated’

The hysteria reached a caller precocious astir 2 weeks ago, when, connected Saturday, July 19, anti-migrant marches organised by the far-right Konfederacja enactment and shot fans swept done 80 Polish towns and cities, shouting racist slurs and slogans.

Sixteen-year-old Nikola, who did not privation to springiness her surname, told Al Jazeera that she had travelled 125km (80 miles) from her location successful Gorlice, confederate Poland, to be the march successful Krakow. She said she came on aft watching videos connected YouTube claiming that, successful Western Europe, radical are “afraid to permission their homes” due to the fact that of the fig of undocumented immigrants.

She said it was important to her to articulation a origin that “unites Poles today”.

“I wanted to beryllium portion of a community. People are showing those astatine the apical that they attraction astir information and that Poland is our country. We should bash everything we tin to forestall what’s happening successful Western Europe,” she said.

“I’d similar to consciousness harmless successful my city, and I’ve already seen a fewer radical who looked similar they are not from here,” she added.

On the march, Nikola joined a ample file of respective 100 people, galore of them wearing Polish patriotic T-shirts and emblems of the Wisla shot club, walking to Market Square. On the way, they passed tourists, immoderate of whom were filming the protesters.

Three aged women proudly waved white-and-red Polish flags among the shot fans. “The federation has had capable of what’s happening. It’s waking up due to the fact that we’re surviving nether terror, being humiliated,” said Danuta, 60, who besides did not privation to springiness her afloat name. “The borders are not sealed and person to beryllium defended by civilians,” she added, referring to the right-wing groups who patrol the Polish-German border.

On Market Square successful the centre of the city, the march crossed paths with a smaller counterdemonstration organised by section left-wing groups, and the 2 groups exchanged insults portion separated by the police.

The constabulary did not grounds immoderate large incidents during the day. But Abdi and different migrants Al Jazeera spoke with by telephone said they did not situation to permission their homes connected Saturday.

Fake quality fans the flames

According to experts, anti-migrant sentiment successful Poland has been spurred by misinformation and fake quality astir the fig of radical entering the country, which does not bespeak reality.

“Poland is not experiencing immoderate large-scale irregular migration,” said Kosowicz. “Within the Dublin process [under EU rules], Germany returns radical who claimed asylum successful Poland and past crossed into Germany. In 2024, determination were 688 specified people, and this twelvemonth – 318. This is thing new.”

According to the International Migration Outlook study for 2024 from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2.2 percent of Poland’s colonisation was foreign-born successful 2023. This is debased compared with different European countries specified arsenic the UK (15.4 percent), Germany (18.2 percent) and France (13.8 percent).

In 2022, 152,000 immigrants obtained residence permits for much than 1 twelvemonth successful Poland, the OECD said.

At the Polish-Belarusian border, which has been utilized by migrants from Global South countries trying to scope Europe since 2021, incoming numbers of migrants person not been peculiarly high, either. According to authoritative data, from January to precocious June this year, 15,022 amerciable crossing attempts were recorded, of which lone 5 percent were successful.

In 2024, determination were astir 30,000 attempts, retired of which, by contrast, one-third (10,900) were successful. In 2021, earlier Poland built a obstruction astatine the borderline with Belarus, the fig of attempts reached 52,000.

Kosowicz besides blames the government, which she says has failed to physique consciousness astir the costs and benefits of improvement and migration, making each foreigners imaginable victims of hatred attacks.

“A survey by Deloitte and UNHCR says that 2.7 percent of Polish GDP comes solely from the enactment of Ukrainian refugees. But this isn’t the accusation we perceive from politicians,” she said.

Abdi, who is joined to a Polish pistillate with whom helium has 2 children, worries greatly astir their future.

“When I arrived here, the Poles welcomed maine wonderfully, and I attraction profoundly astir Poland; it’s my home. I privation it to beryllium harmless for everyone,” helium told Al Jazeera successful fluent Polish.

“At the marches, radical outcry that they privation a achromatic Poland. I’m aged enough, I’m not acrophobic of anything. But I americium disquieted astir my children.”

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