This book sheds light on the complex experiences of asylum seekers and refugees in Poland, against a local backdrop of openly anti-refugee political narratives and strong opposition to sharing the ...responsibility for, and burden of, asylum seekers arriving in the EU. Through a multidimensional analysis, it highlights the processes of forced migrant admission, reception and integration in a key EU frontier country that has undergone a rapid migration status change from a transit to a host country. The book examines rich qualitative material drawn from interviews conducted with forced migrants with different legal statuses and with experts from public administration at the central and local levels, NGOs, and other institutions involved in migration governance in Poland. It discusses both opportunities for and limitations on forced migrants’ adaptation in the social, economic, and political dimensions, as well as their access to healthcare, education, the labour market, and social assistance. This book will be of particular interest to scholars, students, policymakers, and practitioners in migration and asylum studies, social policy, public policy, international relations, EU studies/European integration, law, economics, and sociology.
Migration control in Poland is significantly based on internal control practices carried out by street-level bureaucrats representing both law enforcement agents and low-level judges equipped with ...discretionary power. Based on empirical data from 243 criminal cases of facilitating unauthorised stay in Poland, we reflected on how the mentioned actors and, in particular, criminal judges interpret the existing provisions and to what extent they study cases independently or simply follow the logic of the law enforcement. We based our analysis on two distinct forms of identified cases of 'supporting' irregular migration; that is, participation in sham marriages and involvement in document fraud. We conclude that judges lacking expertise in the field relatively new to them may be less prone to question the effects of the preparatory proceedings, and they are not keen to look for any answers for themselves, especially to scrutinise and refer to the European Union law or jurisprudence. In their 'craftwork', they face cases that seem similar to them and, thus, not deserving of special attention. Judges lack the broader knowledge and possibly also reflexive thinking in assessing migration-related criminal cases brought to the courts by border guards, who prove their effectiveness inter alia through numbers of detected facilitators, not necessarily the roles played by them. All this may lead to unnecessarily broadening the scope of control over immigrants and a failure in achieving the objectives of criminal provisions.
Este artículo, basado en el trabajo de campo etnográfico que los autores realizaron entre los trabajadores agrícolas migrantes estacionales en Polonia, analiza el impacto de las soluciones de vía ...rápida del COVID-19 adoptadas en el sector sobre la situación general de los trabajadores agrícolas migrantes en la agricultura. Basados en la evidencia del campo así como en el análisis de políticas realizado en los últimos meses, argumentamos que las soluciones de vía rápida y las exenciones adoptadas en Polonia (como en muchos de los estados miembros de la UE) durante la pandemia de 2020-2021 no son únicas, sino que manifiestan la política de excepcionalismo agrícola de larga data. Esto tiene implicaciones prácticas sobre la salud y la seguridad de los trabajadores agrícolas migrantes y, paradójicamente, puede traducirse en un empeoramiento de sus condiciones de trabajo y de vida en las explotaciones. En este contexto, queremos arrojar luz sobre las dificultades de los trabajadores agrícolas durante la pandemia, para comprender mejor su posición, que resulta de la intersección de factores que aumentan las vulnerabilidades de los trabajadores agrícolas (temporalidades, aislamiento, baja sindicalización, intensificación del trabajo). Para comprender mejor el impacto de las soluciones especiales en el fenómeno del trabajo estacional, es necesario tener en cuenta la perspectiva de los empresarios. En conjunto, estas observaciones nos permiten trazar un cuadro más completo de la situación de los trabajadores agrícolas durante la pandemia en Polonia, un nuevo país de destino de inmigrantes.
The article analyses a series of in-depth expert interviews conducted in the first half of 2015 with border guards from selected units across Poland within the framework of the project CIS – Modular ...Multipurpose System of Foreigner Identification with a risk of trafficking analysis module. Special preparedness for intensified migration in Europe, and potentially also in Poland, observed already in the first half of 2015 when the fieldwork was conducted, indicates that although the analyzed material covers the period before the onset of the refugee crisis, its conclusions are universal and can be applied to a different migratory situation. The term “irregular migration” is used throughout the text to describe different instances of non-compliance with the law at different stages of the migration process (mainly entry, residence, and work), keeping in mind that it is an imprecise term that is increasingly replaced with expressions meant to reduce stigmatization on the one hand, and to convey the complexity of the issue on the other. The expression “irregular migration” functions in Polish law, although without a precise definition. The Border Guard, as stated in the law regulating the activities of this formation, is the primary state agency tasked with preventing and combating irregular migration. Statistics available in Poland – which allow to estimate the supposed scale of irregular migration – show it to be a very marginal phenomenon, in fact similar to immigration to Poland, in spite of an observable climb in statistics since 2014. From the viewpoint of the relevant services, it seems alarming, however, that although irregular migration levels remain relatively low (particularly compared to other EU countries), there are many (although it is not clear on what scale) violations, associated, if not with irregular migration as such, then with processes typically described as semi-legal or quasi-legal migration. The data available indicate that the number of foreigners staying in Poland illegally is somewhere between a couple to several thousand people. The picture is somewhat different when it comes to the estimated number of foreigners staying in Poland for very short periods of time without the required documents. It is impossible to determine how many such people enter and leave Poland every month or year, particularly due to Schengen arrangements which leave a large section of the state border without checks. Comparing irregular migration-related threats from a dozen years ago to those encountered in Poland today, we can describe today’s irregular migration as irregular migration in “velvet gloves,” or semi-legal migration. On the one hand, the complexity and content of Polish migration law (in terms of what is permitted, and what is not) create potential for abuses. These abuses have, however, become more and more difficult to detect and demonstrate in proceedings before other authorities (prosecutors, courts). Unauthorized movements or organized trans-border travel often have an air of legality; many elements of the migration process comply with the law, authentic documents are used and procedures are followed, yet deeper analysis reveals that the process is essentially based on activities that violate the law (for example, obtaining the attestation of false statements under false pretenses, deliberately misleading a public official, staying within the territory of Poland for purposes other than those stated when applying for a residence or entry permit). The results of the qualitative study carried out among experts show that irregular migration in Poland in the second decade of the twenty-first century is essentially a marginal problem, particularly when compared to the challenges faced by other EU countries, unless we also consider so-called semi-legal migration. The latter is a massscale phenomenon, although this mass quality is not evidenced by official figures. Two phenomena belonging to semi-legal migration, with the potential of turning into “classic” irregular migration, came to the fore in the discussion on forms of irregular migration in Poland, the possibilities of detecting them, as well as the limited means there are of preventing them. The first is unjustified recourse to refugee procedures. The second consists in abusing a procedure that experts have deemed virtually unverifiable, namely the simplified procedure for hiring foreigners based on the employer’s declaration of intent. The fact that this procedure has contributed to the growth of services linked directly to organized irregular migration was mentioned by the respondents as the most problematic aspect of the said legal instrument. The issue of abusing other procedures remained in the background, which does not however mean that these infractions are treated dismissively, however from the viewpoint of the experts interviewed, they are either too few or pose less of a problem in terms of detection and application of relevant sanctions. Taking into account the forms of irregular migration discussed in the article, including types of violations and the limited possibilities of checking them, effective enforcement of compliance with the law on entry, residence and work seems a considerable challenge, particularly given the not always consistent regulations and their interpretation. The institution with the most experience in contacts with foreigners, namely the Border Guard, has long-standing experience in protecting state borders. Currently, the Border Guard is not only a side in various administrative and penal proceedings, but also an institution controlling the legality of stay and work in the territory of Poland. This requires that migration processes be looked at in a broader context, and not merely through the lens of individual infractions. The author attempts to bring out the said broad context and to describe and explain occurring forms of irregular migration.
Abstract
Referring to the theoretical reflection on securitization in the area of forced migration and applying Barak Kalir’s concept of Departheid, we investigate policies and practices deployed by ...the Polish authorities to deal with humanitarian migrants. In particular between 2015 and 2021, in the Polish context, humanitarian migrants were usually equated with ‘bogus’ asylum seekers, ‘undeserving’ of protection or even the right to apply for it. With the increasing presence of Belarusian and, more recently, Ukrainian asylum seekers in Poland, two completely different state attitudes towards asylum seekers reaching Poland’s borders became visible. People directly fleeing Belarus and Ukraine were seen as deserving protection and support, and faced no obstacles in entering Poland through its eastern border. At the same time, non-White people forced to leave Asian or African regions in crisis, attempting to cross the border and to enter Poland remained ‘unwanted’—to be deterred or deported, and thus illegalized at some stage of their mobility, usually already at the point of entrance. Based on the analysis of empirical data gathered between 2018 and 2021, we look for durable solutions for the latter category of migrants and investigate the reasons for the selectivity observed in the Polish practices towards asylum seekers. We conclude that the governmental approach perpetuated towards keeping humanitarian migrants away from Polish territory, especially in the post-2015 context, builds on xenophobic sentiments, making the concept of Departheid applicable to the realities of forced migration management in Poland.
This article draws on two studies conducted between 2016 and 2018 on the nature of labor migration from Ukraine to Poland. Using quantitative and qualitative data, it analyses the relationship ...between social networks and employment agencies. Building on research into migration infrastructure, we question the dichotomy-which also appears in migrants' narratives-between migrant social networks and labor brokers, and offer evidence of overlap and interdependence between the two. Exploring various aspects of labor migration, we look at the role played by the social networks of the actors (both the migrants and the intermediaries) in enhancing migration infrastructure. We show how migrants use their social capital in regard to labor brokers and how the latter, rather than replacing networks, mobilize their network resources and experience to create a trusted transnational service.
This article draws on two studies conducted between 2016 and 2018 on the nature of labor migrationfrom Ukraine to Poland. Using quantitative and qualitative data, it analyses the relationship between ...social networks and employment agencies. Building on research into migration infrastructure, we question thedichotomy—which also appears in migrants’ narratives—between migrant social networks and labor brokers, andoffer evidence of overlap and interdependence between the two. Exploring various aspects of labor migration,we look at the role played by the social networks of the actors (both the migrants and the intermediaries) inenhancing migration infrastructure. We show how migrants use their social capital in regard to labor brokers andhow the latter, rather than replacing networks, mobilize their network resources and experience to create a trusted transnational service.
Migration control in Poland is significantly based on internal control practices carried out by street-level bureaucrats representing both law enforcement agents and low-level judges equipped with ...discretionary power. Based on empirical data from 243 criminal cases of facilitating unauthorised stay in Poland, we reflected on how the mentioned actors and, in particular, criminal judges interpret the existing provisions and to what extent they study cases independently or simply follow the logic of the law enforcement. We based our analysis on two distinct forms of identified cases of 'supporting' irregular migration; that is, participation in sham marriages and involvement in document fraud. We conclude that judges lacking expertise in the field relatively new to them may be less prone to question the effects of the preparatory proceedings, and they are not keen to look for any answers for themselves, especially to scrutinise and refer to the European Union law or jurisprudence. In their 'craftwork', they face cases that seem similar to them and, thus, not deserving of special attention. Judges lack the broader knowledge and possibly also reflexive thinking in assessing migration-related criminal cases brought to the courts by border guards, who prove their effectiveness inter alia through numbers of detected facilitators, not necessarily the roles played by them. All this may lead to unnecessarily broadening the scope of control over immigrants and a failure in achieving the objectives of criminal provisions.
The aim of the article is to present one of the facets of the state's approach towards irregular migration, namely identification of and reaction of the law enforcement and judiciary to the offence ...of facilitating or enabling unauthorised stay of another person and gaining personal or material profits from it (introduced to the Polish legislation in 2004). Based on the analysis of court files of 243 criminal cases, we indicate forms of facilitation of unauthorised stay (with predominance of document frauds) and analyse the features of the constitutive elements of the offence, i.e. facilitators, persons whose stay is enabled, and profits. We conclude that among convicted facilitators there are those whose intensions were far from enabling the stay of another person and actual facilitators often remained unidentified. We also point to doubtful court decisions, in particular those regarding undetermined profits and recipients or recipients sentenced as facilitators. Thus, we prove that despite the declared prioritisation of irregular migration as a problem to be tackled in Poland, the practice of the law enforcement agents and the courts reveals a determination to achieve easy targets, following known paths, as well as abandoning areas that require more attention and possibly also efforts.
The aim of the article is to present one of the facets of the states approach towards irregular migration, namely identification of and reaction of the law enforcement and judiciary to the offence of ...facilitating or enabling unauthorised stay of another person and gaining personal or material profits from it (introduced to the Polish legislation in 2004). Based on the analysis of court files of 243 criminal cases, we indicate forms of facilitation of unauthorised stay (with predominance of document frauds) and analyse the features of the constitutive elements of the offence, i.e. facilitators, persons whose stay is enabled, and profits. We conclude that among convicted facilitators there are those whose intensions were far from enabling the stay of another person and actual facilitators often remained unidentified. We also point to doubtful court decisions, in particular those regarding undetermined profits and recipients or recipients sentenced as facilitators. Thus, we prove that despite the declared prioritisation of irregular migration as a problem to be tackled in Poland, the practice of the law enforcement agents and the courts reveals a determination to achieve easy targets, following known paths, as well as abandoning areas that require more attention and possibly also efforts.
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