It Started with A Violent Crime. In June, in The Center of Torun, Central-North Pole, A Venezuelan Man Stabbed 24-Yare-Old Klaudia, A Polish Woman, To Death As She was Walking Home From Work Through a Park.
That horrific incident led to a silent march by thousands of protests this torun on Sunday, July 6. Media media reported that the march had been organized by Supporters of the Far-Right Konfederacja Political Alliance and People Carried Signs Saying “Stop illegal Immigration”.
The Came the Rumours and Misinformation. On July 14, Subeone in Walbrzych, Southwestern Poland, strance the police to report to Paraguayan Man Who Had Allegedly Taken Pictures of Children On A Playground.
The Police Stopped The Man But Did Not Find Anything Incriminating On His Phone. That Didn’t Stop Two Polish Men from Beating Him Up Soon Afterwards. And, The Next Day, A Group of About 50 People Stormed The Hostel He and Other Migrants were living in. Sub People Threw Flares Into The Building, and The Owner Has Since Been Forced to Close The Hostel Down.
In Recent Weeks, Anti-Migrant Sentiment in Pole Has Been On The Rise, Spurred by Far-Right Rhetoric, Which Asserts that have been been flooded with “Unconstrained Illegal Migration”. Claims that Migrants Take Local Jobs and That They possesses Threat To Poles Bysically and Figuatively, with their “Foreign Lifestyle”, Are Common and Even finded by lawmakers.
One MP from Konfederacja – Konrad Berkowicz from Krakow – Told Tok FM 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. “
Elmi Abdi, 62, A Somali Who Came To Pole in 1996 As A Refugee, Told Al Jazeera: “Today, Migrants are sen responsible for All of Poles Problems; We Are Are Scapegoats That All Parties Attack, Even Though Polidicitians Know It’s All Untrue.” Today, Abdi Is Head of the Good Start Foundation, Which Supports Migrants, Offering Help With Access to Language Classses, Legal Assistance and Other Matters.
“It is sad schouse [immigrants] do EveryThing to Work Sofely Here, Pay Taxes, and integrate into society. ”
As Misinformation-Such as in the Walbrzych Incident-About Immigrants Spreads, The Polish Migration Forum, A Rights Group, you have stranded the atmosphere in contola “pre-potrom-like.”
“What Distinguishes Today’s Situation Is The Violence. We are in A Vary Bad Place,” Said Agnieszka Kosowicz, Head of the Forum. “Acts of Violence Already Take Place, People Are subject to insults, Threats and Displays of Hostility and Contemp. This is a Very Alarming Situation that requires Decisive Response for the State.”
Rumours of ‘Illegal Returns’
On July 7, Pole Reinstated Border Controls with Germany and Lithhuania. That Followed Similar Restrictions Germany Fored Earlier in the Year to DiscoGage Asylum Seekers From Entering Through Pole.
Pole is also now Actively Monitoring The Return of Migrants-Both Asylum and Non-Asylum Seekers-By The German Police, as per European Union Rules. These are People Who ArRIVED IN POLAND FROM OUTSIDE THE EU BEFORE CROSSING TO GERMANY.
These return of migrants by the german authorities are legal, but as rmours on the Internet about Illegally – So Far Without Much Success.
The Eu ACCUSED Belarusian and Russian Authorities of Fomenting the Eu’s Migration Crisis To Destabilise The Continent, by finding People from the Global South to Travel to Belarus and The Onwards Into Europe Via Poland.
In 2022, Pole Built a Fence Along The Border With Belarus to Prevent Migrants From Entering The Country Irregularly. The Fence, However, Did Little to Physically Stop Migrants from Coming In.
So, in march this year, Poland suspended the right to Claim Asylum Altogether in a Bid to Deterople From Coming.
All of this you have served to Stir Up Anti-Migrant Fear in Pole, which has been further amplified by Far-Right Groups for Their Own Political Purpose.
‘We are being humiliated’
The Hysteria rearack a New High Nearly Two Weeks AUG, When, On Saturday, July 19, Anti-Migrant Marches Organized by The Far-Right Konfederacja Party and Football Fans Swept This 80 Polish Towns and Cities, Shouting Racist Slurs and slogans.
Sixteen-Yare-Old Nikola, Who Did Not Want To Give Her Srename, To Toll Al Jazeera That She Had Travelled 125km (80 thousand) From Her Home In Gorlice, Southern Poland, To Attend the March in Krakow. She Said She Came Along After Watching Videos on YouTube Claiming That, In Western Europe, People Are “Afraid to Leave Their Homes” Because of the Number of undoccupimal Immigrants.
She Said it was important to her to join a cale that “Unites Poles Today”.
“I Wted to Be part of A Community. People Are Showing Those at the top they care about secury and that Polent is Our Country. We Should do Everything We Can To To Prevent What’s Happening in Western Europe,” She Said.
“I’D Like to Feel Safe in My City, and i’ve already sen to few people who look like they are not from here,” She Added.
On the March, Nikola Joined A Large Column of Several Hundred People, Many of Them Wearing Polish Patriotic T-Shirts and Emblems of the Wisla Football Club, Walking to Market Square. On The Way, They Passed Tourists, Sub of Whom Were Filming The Protests.
Three Elderly Women Proudly Waved White-And-Red Polish Flags Among the Football Fans. “The Nation has had aough of What’s Happening. It’s Waking Up Becouse We’re Living Under Terror, Being Humiliated,” Said Danuta, 60, Who Also Did Not Want To Give Her Full Name. “The borders are not seared and have to be defended by civilians,” She Added, Referring to the Right-Wing Groups Who Patrol The Polish-German Border.
On Market Square in the Center of the City, The Marche Crossed Paths with A Smaller Counterdemonstration Organized by Local Left-Wing Groups, and The Two Groups Exchange Insults While Separated by The Police.
The Police Did Not Record Any Major Incidents During the Day. But abdi and oher migrants a jazeera spoke with by telephone said they Did not dare to leave their homes on saturday.
Fake News Fans The Flames
According to experts, anti-migrant sentiment in contola have been spurred by missionation and fake news about the number of People Entering the country, which does not reflect reality.
“Pole is not experiencing Any Large-Scale Irregular Migration,” Said Kosowicz. “Within The Dublin procedure [under EU rules]Germany Returns People Who Claimed Asylum in Pole and The Crossed into Germany. In 2024, There Were 688 Such People, and This Year – 318. This is nothing new. ”
According to the international migration outlook report for 2024 from the organism for economic co-operation and developement (OECD), 2.2 Percent of Pole’s Population was Foreign-Born in 2023. (18.2 Perent) and France (13.8 percent).
In 2022, 152,000 Immigrants Obtained residence permit For More than One Year in Pole, The Oecd Said.
At the polysh-belarusian border, which has been used by Migrants from Global South Countries Trying To Reach Europe Since 2021, Incoming Numbers of Migrants Have Not Been Privately High, Eithher. According to Official Data, From January to Late June This Year, 15,022 Illegal Crossing Attempts were remember, of which Only 5 Percent Were Successful.
In 2024, There Were Nearly 30,000 Attempts, Out of Which, By contrast, One-Third (10,900) Were Successful. In 2021, Before Pole Built A FENCE AT THE BORDER WITH BELARUS, The Number of Attempts rear 52,000.
KOSOWICZ ALSO BLAMES THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH SHE SAYS HAS FAILED TO BUILD AWARD ABOUT THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF DEVELOPMENT AND MIGRATION, MAKING ALL FOREIGNERS POTENTIAL VICTIMS OF HATE ATTACKS.
“A Study by Deloitte and Unhcr Says That 2.7 Plant of Polish GDP Comes Solely From The Work of Ukrainian Refugees. But This isn ‘Information We Hear From Polyiticians,” She Said.
Abdi, who is brown to a Polish Woman with whom he has Two Children, Worries Greatly About Their Future.
“When I Arrived Here, The Poles Welcomed Me Wonderfully, and I Care Deeply About Poland; It’s My Home. I Want It To Be Safe for Everyone,” “HE TOLD AL JAZEERA IN FLUENT POLISH.
“At The Marches, People Shout that they want a White Pole. I’M OLD ENOUGH, I’M NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING. But I am Worried About My Children.”
