Folding Arms Behind Open Doors: Poland’s Policy on the Admission of Migrants from the Global South in 2014–2023
Folding Arms Behind Open Doors: Poland’s Policy on the Admission of Migrants from the Global South in 2014–2023

Summary/Abstract: Poland’s stance towards migrants during the nationalist-conservative government of the Law and Justice party was based on securitisation, especially targeting those coming from the Global South. In the article, we employ an evidence-based approach to examine whether statistical data support Poland’s politically avowed hostility towards migrants from selected countries. Drawing on critical border studies, we aim to explain how Poland’s migration policy from 2014 to 2023 was linked to global hierarchies that shape the possibilities of human mobility. We investigate two types of migration— forced and work-related—using quantitative data from the Office for Foreigners and the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy for the period 2014–2023. We argue that Poland’s policy at that time was marked by a schizophrenic approach of accepting economic migrants for a limited time based on a liberal immigration regime and applying double standards on its eastern border concerning forced and undocumented migrants. In conclusion, we contend that while the Polish authorities were visibly hostile towards migrants from the Global South, this has not translated into opposing immigration from these countries in all practical terms, substantiating our claim of policy schizophrenia. However, this schizophrenic attitude is logical if migration is understood as a commodity satisfying the needs of actors powerful enough to shape migration policy.

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