19 May 2016

The Guardian: Yes, bigotry remains. But overall, the EU has helped Poland become less racist

Unfortunately, Poland’s current government is working hard to reverse this progress. Law and Justice, the rightwing populist party that came to power last year, seems bent on resuscitating the most xenophobic of instincts in Poland. Desperate to win last October’s parliamentary elections, the party resorted to rhetoric reminiscent of the Nazi era.

Their leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, said migrants from the Middle East could trigger “epidemics” in Europe as they likely carried “various parasites and protozoa, which don’t affect their organisms, but which would be dangerous here”. The deputy prime minister, Jarosław Gowin, said Poland shouldn’t accept any Muslim migrants ,“to prevent Polish babies being blown up”. [...]

Violence against foreigners, especially those taken for Arabs, is on the rise. “We now receive reports of racial violence occurring almost every week, people being beaten up just because of their skin colour,” said Adam Bodnar, Poland’s ombudsman, in March. “This reveals the damage caused by the parliamentary campaign. In my opinion that was the decisive moment,” he added.

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