- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/POLAND Poland conflicted over migrant quotas
- Date: 27th July 2015
- Summary: WARSAW, POLAND (JULY 25, 2015) (REUTERS) ?DEMONSTRATION "POLES WELCOME REFUGEES" PEOPLE HOLDING BANNER, READING (Polish): "REFUGEES WELCOME" POLES STANDING WITH REFUGEES WOMEN HOLDING TRADITIONAL WELCOME GIFT OF BREAD AND SALT WARSAW, POLAND (JULY 21, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE POLISH PRIME MINISTER EWA KOPACZ ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) POLISH PRIME MINISTER, EWA KOPACZ, SAYING ON THE 2,000 REFUGEES POLAND HAS AGREED TO TAKE IN: "This number is the effect of the fulfillment of an especially important motto for us, Poles, of European solidarity. We also expect solidarity from Europe, we expect it regarding Ukraine (crisis), we expect solidarity regarding energy security, in general this solidarity is for us, Poles in the European Union, very necessary." WARSAW, POLAND (JULY 25, 2015) (REUTERS) PEOPLE HOLDING BANNER, READING (English): "WELCOME REFUGEES" MAN HOLDING BANNER WITH ARABIC LETTERS WARSAW, POLAND (JULY 27, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF OFFICE FOR FOREIGNERS BOARD, READING (Polish): "OFFICE FOR FOREIGNERS" OFFICE FOR FOREIGNERS SPOKESPERSON EWA PIECHOTA TALKING TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) OFFICE FOR FOREIGNERS SPOKESPERSON, EWA PIECHOTA, SAYING: "This number is preceded by many analyses and also the fact that we are exposed to a higher inflow of people from the East, for example Ukraine, because since last year these people have been handing in more applications for refugee status and we have to keep some reserve of places for migrants from Ukraine." WARSAW, POLAND (JULY 25, 2015) (REUTERS) ?DEMONSTRATION "POLES WELCOME REFUGEES" PEOPLE HOLDING BANNER, READING (Polish): "REFUGEES WELCOME" PEOPLE HOLDING BANNERS, READING (Polish): "WE WELCOME REFUGEES - THEY ARE MOST WELCOMED. NOT FOR RACISM AND ISLAMOPHOBIA" PEOPLE HOLDING FLAGS, READING (English): "REFUGEES WELCOME TO POLAND" VARIOUS OF ?DEMONSTRATION "POLES WELCOME REFUGEES" (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) PRIEST, ANDRZEJ LUTER, SAYING: "This is a teaching of Christ: faith, hope, love. Can there be anything greater? Can there be a better occasion to show this attitude than by receiving people who are persecuted, who are threatened?" VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATION "POLES WELCOME REFUGEES" WARSAW, POLAND (JULY 27, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF REFUGEES INSIDE FOUNDATION FOR SOMALIA OFFICE VARIOUS OF POSTER READING (Polish): "COMPETITION DIRECTION: POLAND" WHITEBOARD READING (Polish): "NEIGHBOUR DAY, LESSONS OF ARABIC WRITING, KENYAN TOYS, 3D PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION" WARSAW, POLAND (JULY 25, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) REFUGEE FROM SOMALIA, ABDULCADIR GABEIRE FARAH, SAYING: "I have friends who came here, opened a restaurant, run their own company. Myself, I employ 31 people in Poland as refugees. It means that we do not arrive to Poland with expectations of being supported, but we arrive to have the chance of peace and security to independently stand our own two feet." WARSAW, POLAND (JULY 27, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF FARAH'S OFFICE BOARD, READING (Polish): "Enterprising Immigrant. Integration program for third country nationals on the Polish labour market and support of entrepreneurship of immigrants." FARAH IN HIS OFFICE FARAH'S HANDS AS HE SIGNS PAPERS
- Embargoed: 11th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Poland
- Country: Poland
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA1X5N8L3PYKERSLG0AA4E2VH2S
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Several weeks after Poland announced plans to accept 2,000 refugees from Syria and North Africa by 2017, the country is divided over the number of people it should take in as part of the European Union's plan to relocate refugees around the bloc and mitigate the migration crisis in its southern states.
While protesters on the streets of Warsaw called for a show of solidarity, the Polish government has repeatedly stated that it is not ready to absorb large numbers of new asylum seekers and has been one of the staunchest opponents to EU proposals for the redistribution of migrants.
Prime Minister Eva Kopacz has stood firm on the numbers her country will accept, saying last week that Poland's pledge to take in 2,000 people was already a clear demonstration of solidarity.
"This number is the effect of the fulfillment of an especially important motto for us, Poles, of European solidarity. We also expect solidarity from Europe, we expect it regarding Ukraine (crisis), we expect solidarity regarding energy security, in general this solidarity is for us, Poles in the European Union, very necessary," she said in the Polish capital.
Poland, along with several other central and eastern European countries, had earlier been one of the countries to reject the mandatory migrants quota proposed by the European Commission.
The 2,000 refugees it has agreed to accept from 2016 will come mainly from Syria and Eritrea. After being checked by Polish security services, they will be transferred to the centres of the Office for Foreigners, where they are set to receive medical care and Polish language lessons and take part in integration programs.
Ewa Piechota from the Office for Foreigners said the limit of 2,000 had been imposed due to the high numbers of migrants putting a strain on the system.
"This number is preceded by many analyses and also the fact that we are exposed to a higher inflow of people from the East, for example Ukraine, because since last year these people have been handing in more applications for refugee status and we have to keep some reserve of places for migrants from Ukraine," she said.
According to Eurostat data, Poland has granted asylum to 720 people in 2015 so far, mainly Chechens and Syrians. Proportionally to the country's population this is 25 times less than Germany and 180 times less than Sweden.
In Warsaw on Saturday (July 25), several hundred protesters held a demonstration under the motto "Poles welcome refugees", holding traditional welcome gifts of bread and salt as well as anti-racism banners.
"This is a teaching of Christ: faith, hope, love. Can there be anything greater? Can there be a better occasion to show this attitude than by receiving people who are persecuted, who are threatened?" one demonstrator, priest Andrzej Luter, said.
Abdullah Gabeire Farah from Somalia was the first refugee to receive asylum in post-communist Poland. He now helps to organise integration programmes for migrants, and seeks to challenge the view that refugees are a drain on the country's resources.
"I have friends who came here, opened a restaurant, run their own company. Myself, I employ 31 people in Poland as refugees. It means that we do not arrive to Poland with expectations of being supported, but we arrive to have the chance of peace and security to independently stand our own two feet," he said.
The European Union failed last Monday (July 20) to agree on how to spread 40,000 asylum seekers in Greece and Italy among its members over the next two years, postponing the decision until the end of the year.
Following the deaths of 700 people on a fishing boat heading for Italy from Libya in April, EU leaders called at a summit in June for agreement on the relocation by the end of July - a potentially divisive move in some countries where far-right parties and populist anti EU movements are gaining ground, including in Poland.
EU home affairs ministers agreed in Brussels last week to respect the summit's indications by committing to the relocation of 40,000 migrants forecast to arrive in Greece and Italy over the next two years, but the actual numbers for each member state will be defined in another meeting by December. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None