Immigration to Poland as part of the political game
by: Dominik Wach, UW | Mateusz Krępa, UW
Issues related to immigration and integration of foreigners in Poland for years have not been the subject of much public debate. Until the election campaign of the second half of 2015, the topic was dealt with by a narrow circle of experts and academics, and the media and policymakers were basically uninterested in these issues. As it turns out, it took less than a decade for the issues of immigration, integration or multiculturalism to become one of the main topics igniting the public and eagerly used by politicians to fight other factions.
First, the topic of migration began to be used by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party during the 2015 presidential and parliamentary campaigns. A sense of insecurity was built up in society in the face of the migration crisis of that time. Although the aforementioned crisis did not affect Poland, and the number of asylum seekers did not visibly change, the topic of "illegal migrants" from the Middle East and North Africa, sometimes referred to as "fake refugees" helped tip the scales and led, as one factor, to the victory of PiS and the party's rule until now. The subsequent terrorist attacks in France and Belgium, as well as the events on New Year's Eve in some of German cities, further heated up the atmosphere and allowed the issue of foreigners coming from countries perceived as “culturally different” to be used as a topic to polarize society and justify an increasingly securitized approach to migration.
Unlike in Western European countries, both migration and its securitization are relatively new phenomenon in Poland, but one that is surprisingly gaining momentum. Initial declarations by the right-wing Law and Justice government aimed not only at building a sense of threat from migrants, but also at positioning itself as defenders of so-called “Christian values” and the Polish nation. Moreover, already in 2016, the official document stipulating Poland’s migration strategy was invalidated and the decision was made to abandon the previous government's commitment to participate in the EU relocation project. In response to the humanitarian crisis on the border with Belarus, Polish government started building a fence on this border in early 2022 and applying push-backs against those entering Polish territory, even if they attempted to apply for international protection.
Interestingly, at the same time, Poland under the PiS government became the country issuing the largest number of new residence permits in the EU, mainly for economic migrants to fill gaps in the Polish labor market, and in early 2022 widely opened its borders to forced migrants from Ukraine.
However, with the upcoming parliamentary elections due in October 2023, it is worrying that the issue of immigration, mainly from Muslim countries, is once again being used as a theme to build a sense of insecurity. This time, it was the leader of the opposition, Donald Tusk, of the liberal Civic Platform, who used the issues of cultural and religious difference of potential immigrants in the context of the recent riots in France, somehow legitimizing the narrative related to the securitization of the issue, despite the fact that not long ago he openly criticized the construction of the border barrier and push-back practices. This fits in with the dangerous trend of dividing migrants into the good ones, coming from culturally close countries like Ukraine or Belarus, and those posing a potential threat because they adhere to Islam. The coming months will show how far this discourse impacts the current policy of openness for labour migration and – possibly – return policies.
Contact:
Dominik Wach | The University of Warsaw | d.wach@uw.edu.pl
Mateusz Krępa | The University of Warsaw | mateusz.krepa@uw.edu.pl
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