A few days before the war in Ukraine, with the unstable situation on the border between Poland and Belarus enforced by immigrants brought by the Minsk regime from different countries around the world, the debate about the ability of Poland to include refugees in Polish public opinion. Migration experts were wrong. In an interview published on February 22 by the weekly Krytyka Liberalna, Professor Maciej Duszczyk of the Center for Migration Studies at the University of Warsaw asked whether Poland would be able to host one million refugees from Ukraine. Example: Let’s look at what happened in Germany in 2015 and 2016, when about a million refugees just arrived in the country. The German states could not cope with such an influx of people. Civil society had to be involved. And that in a country twice the size of ours, with a much more efficient administration and a strong decentralized local government.” In the text published a few hours before the Russian invasion, Duszczyk predicted that, in the event of a wave of refugees, Poland could house between 100,000 and 150,000, he stressed that they would live “in dramatically poor conditions.” Life designed a different scenario.
70% of Poles help
According to Polish authorities, 7.7 million victims of the Russian invasion arrived in Poland between February 24 and November 11. During the same period, 5.8 million people moved in the opposite direction. The government of Mateusz Morawiecki estimates that of this refugee wave, about 1.9 million Ukrainians currently live in Poland and that 1.4 million have found shelter in single-family homes. The first refugees to arrive were mainly housed in sports halls and facilities of the Catholic Church. The fact that the Ukrainians who arrived were mainly Orthodox Christians was not a problem. Aid was also provided to Russian-occupied areas – during the first four weeks of the war alone, the Polish Catholic Church sent 147 trucks and 180 other large vehicles to Ukraine, mainly for transporting food, worth a total of 5,000 euros. 5 million euros. In the following weeks, support to the Ukrainian population was intensified by both religious and secular entities, as well as government institutions, municipalities and NGOs. Warsaw authorities estimate that the Polish state’s aid to the refugees amounted to more than €1 billion, €800 million of which was paid from a special government fund. According to the head of the Polish Institute of Economics (PIE), Piotr Arak, more than 70% of adult Poles have already joined in helping refugees and during the first three months of the conflict, citizens donated two billion euros for this purpose. “Thanks to an unprecedented decision by the Polish authorities, Ukrainians have been granted the same rights as Poles, except they are allowed to vote,” Arak noted. He estimated that if people from the previous wave of emigration from Ukraine, which started in 2014 with the war in Donbas, are included, about 3 to 3.5 million Ukrainians live in Poland today.
Refugee, ie citizen
Refugees from the other side of the Bug River are entitled to family benefits and education, including a monthly payment of 110 euros for each child, after the outbreak of war in Poland. They also receive free psychological help, food and access to medical care. “It will be difficult for us to repay the kindness we experienced here from many people and institutions,” explains Olga from Kiev, who has been taking shelter in the Warsaw metropolitan area since March. “The procedures that Polish officials carry out in the context of the reception of refugees are very efficient. In the temporary reception point next to the Legia stadium, I received everything I needed to live within a few hours: free accommodation, a card to phone and internet, an identification number to enroll my children in school and have access to a doctor, as well as a job,” says the Ukrainian.
Another war victim, Anna Yashina, quotes the words of President Volodymyr Zelensky when he said in March that, thanks to Poland’s openness to millions of refugees, “there is effectively no border between Ukraine and Poland anymore.” . He added that he does not intend to return to his homeland until the war is over.
Most adult Ukrainian refugees are not idle. According to the Polish Ministry of Labour, more than 400,000 people, or about 60% of working-age refugees, have already found a job. More than half state that they earn better wages compared to living in Ukraine. A study by Gremi Personal shows that almost 52% of Ukrainian refugees working in Poland believe that their stay in this country has brought them a better standard of living.
Businessman Dominik Piwowarczyk, owner of Warsaw-based trading and services company D&D, believes that the emergence of Ukrainian refugees in the Polish labor market could make it more dynamic in the long run. “In several places they have replaced the Poles who have emigrated to Western Europe in recent years,” he said, stressing that the question of the stability of public finances, overloaded with the payment of social support to the numerous newcomers, remains a mystery stays.
The authorities of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also point to the heavy burden that the aid provided to Ukraine represents for the budget of the Polish government. They estimate that by the end of December 2022, spending on the maintenance of war refugees in Poland will reach €8.4 billion and will be the highest among the organisation’s member countries.
Also open hearts and wallets
On 10 November, Polish representatives in the European Parliament argued that the EU’s general declarations of solidarity with the victims of the conflict are not enough and that “the opening of hearts must be accompanied by the opening of wallets”. Marta Majewska, mayor of the border town of Hrubieszów, who took part in the event, said she believes Polish local authorities have not felt any support from the EU so far. He added that his city, with a population of 17,000, counted 10,000 victims of the conflict in just the first week of the war. The word solidarity […] today takes on a new historical dimension and a new meaning. We, as Poland, have the right to count on this solidarity, we have the right to expect this solidarity,” Majewska said in Brussels, recalling that more than 90% of Ukrainians arriving in Poland are women and children .
Despite the fact that Brussels has announced its willingness to support the victims since the beginning of the war, the first EU funds earmarked for this purpose only reached Poland in October: €144.6 million. Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński admits that while the amount is “small compared to needs”, this support shows that the EU values Poland. He points out that Warsaw had asked Brussels for another 40 million euros, hoping, after Russia’s destruction of critical Ukrainian infrastructure, a new wave of migrants in the winter. According to MEP Jan Olbrycht, Europe urgently needs to adjust its budget. “The war has changed the situation. There are not enough resources in the EU budget for 2021-2027 that can be allocated, among other things, to economic-financial support for Ukraine,” noted the member of the opposition Civic Platform.
In Polish society, however, the willingness to help Ukrainians is accompanied by fatigue and even complaints. Some are calling for more commitment from the European Commission, while others are demanding that Ukrainians provide for their own livelihoods. “The Poles have already helped a lot, they got it out of their own pockets. I think some of the refugees stay here only to take advantage of social support. Many of them have received support here that even the Poles themselves cannot count on “, points out Warsaw nurse Teresa Lis, pointing out that many Polish citizens paying public health contributions were “thrown” from the rows of hospitals and medical clinics to make way for Ukrainians. “Priority is now being given to Ukrainians, which irritates many patients,” said Lis, showing that she is angry, among other things, at the large presence of Ukrainian doctors and nurses in Poland. “Since there is war in Ukraine, their place is with their suffering compatriots. Foreign medical teams with poor knowledge of the Ukrainian language will not replace them there,” he added.
The 104 Polish words
Security experts point out that the massive influx of Ukrainians to Poland is an area of interest for the Kremlin, with the aim of spreading fake news and manipulations that increase as the war continues. The website CyberDefense24 points out that Russian disinformation can feed on historical resentment. points out that the rhetoric of these sources often features controversial figures, such as Stepan Bandera, co-founder of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B), who, through the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), promoted the ethnic cleansing of the Polish population during World War II . “The issue of the alleged, mainly financial, privilege of Ukrainians in Poland is also an extremely popular and hostile story. It is hoped that in the context of rising inflation and the increasingly difficult situation of many Polish families, these slogans will become used for the purposes of disinformation,” he explained.
Pro-Russian handlers are also active in Ukraine, spreading news of an alleged Warsaw plan to annex Ukrainian territories. Few are cheated. According to a Top Lead survey, 97% of Ukrainians living in their home country today consider Poland a friendly country. President Zelensky spoke about this attitude on Friday, on the occasion of the 104th anniversary of Polish independence. He symbolically used 104 Polish words to thank his neighbors for their support, which he says will remain etched in Ukrainians’ memories: “They will remember how they welcomed us, how they helped us. The Poles are our allies, your homeland is our country.” sister. Your friendship will be forever. Our friendship will be forever. Our love, forever. Together we will triumph.”
Source: DN
