Most Polish municipalities fail to set refugee quotas

In total, the country’s administrative districts have set forth to welcome 435 asylum-seekers, including 113 families, 212 children and 27 singles, according to the results of a nationwide survey run by the Labour Ministry, released by the paper.

The northwestern Zachodniopomorskie province tops the list, with ten communes willing to accept 179 individuals, followed by the northern Pomorskie province (49 refugees) and the southern Małopolskie province (35).

Meanwhile, not a single commune in the eastern Podkarpacie and Lubelskie provinces declared readiness to welcome any fledglings.

“The worst step Poland could take is to express a lack of interest and willingness to collaborate within the EU bloc on matters that are inconvenient to Poland or ones which we believe don’t concern us,” head of the Center for International Relations Małgorzata Bonikowska told the paper, commenting on the reluctance of many political figures in the country to shore up the European community’s efforts to tackle the ongoing refugee crisis.

In September, former Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz pledged to take in some 7,000 refugees from Syria and Eritrea – a step questioned by the now ruling Law and Justice party.

The Labour Ministry, meanwhile, stresses the survey was run for pre-assessment purposes only and was not viewed as a binding declaration. As the Ministry officials underline, the figures could shift by the time the first groups of refugees enter Poland.

The municipalities, however, point to a lack of social housing, and a lack of information on the process of accepting refugees or the amount of state funding earmarked for the cause.

Following the terrorist attacks that broke out in Paris on 13 November, the new European Affairs Minister Konrad Szymański stated that Poland would not take in any refugees unless it received “guarantees of security.” (aba/di)

Source: Rzeczpospolita