Anti-migrant feeling has been rising in Poland amid far right claims the EU country has been flooded with “illegal” immigrants. Warsaw suspended the right to claim asylum in Poland in March in a bid to put people off reaching the nation. Since then, marches against migrants have swept across the country.
A woman on one march in Krakow, who only gave her first name, Danuta, said: “The nation has had enough of what’s happening. It’s waking up because we’re living under terror, being humiliated.” The 60-year-old added that Poland’s borders are “not sealed” now so they have to be defended by civilians.
Far-right groups in Poland have alleged Germany has transported migrants into Polish territory after they reached Europe.
Under European Union rules, migrants and non-migrants can be returned to the EU country they first arrived in by other EU states where they have travelled on to. But speculation online about German authorities making “illegal returns” led to patrols at Poland’s borders by ordinary Poles without any authority to do so.
Poland reinstated border controls with Germany and Lithuania in July after similar restrictions were imposed by Germany earlier this year aimed at discouraging asylum seekers. The reinstated controls were due to last for an initial 30 days, though authorities haven’t ruled out extending them.
The EU has a visa-free travel area, known as Schengen, which allows citizens of most member states to travel easily across borders for work and pleasure.
Member states are allowed to temporarily reintroduce border controls in cases of a serious threat, such as internal security. Under the rules, border controls should be applied as a last resort in exceptional situations and must be limited in time.
Tensions over immigration in Poland have also been raised by incidents and allegations, not all of which have been true. In the Polish town of Torun, a man from Venezuela fatally stabbed a 24-year-old Polish woman as she walked home through a park. It led to a silent march by thousands of protesters, calling for illegal immigration to end.
In Walbrzych, a man from Paraguay was alleged to have taken photos of children in a playground. Police searched him and found nothing suspicious on his phone. But two Polish men beat him up not long afterwards and a mob stormed a hostel where the Paraguayan and about 50 others were staying.
Politicians have also been stoking tensions, with one MP, Konrad Berkowicz from Krakow, telling Polish radio: “Xenophobia is an important element of our national unity. Condemning xenophobia and stifling it in the West has led to rapes and terrorist acts, that’s why we should cherish xenophobia.”
Figures show, however, that the percentage of foreign-born people in Poland’s population is small relative to the UK. Only 2.2% of Poland’s population was foreign-born in 2023 compared with the UK’s 15.4%, according to the OECD’s International Migration Outlook 2024 report.
Elmi Abdi, a Somali who came to Poland as a refugee, told Al Jazeera: “Today, migrants are seen as responsible for all of Poland’s problems. We are scapegoats that all parties attack, even though politicians know it’s all untrue. It is sad because we do everything to work safely here, pay taxes and integrate into society.”