Poland Immigration

The topic of immigration in Poland is a much different one than it is in Germany. Poland seems to be a fairly quiet nation in comparison to many countries in the world in that we don’t always here about them. Despite this thought, Poland is a very strong and relentless nation. They have been defeated many times but always find a way to overcome adversity and get themselves back on their feet. It is because of this adversity that Poland has its own identity that they wish to keep.

I learned the most about Poland from the presentation given by Dawid and Ola. After hearing about the history and culture of Poland from their presentation I became more interested in some other things about their country. I interviewed Dawid and Ola about immigration in Poland. I learned from them that Poland is a fairly conservative nation. Poland has pushed back against the European Union to have a more secure border. The Poles are a very unified nation and they don’t want people messing with their identity, who they are or what they stand for. Before I came into Poland I figured they were like any other country in Europe that let the European Union push them around. Well this is definitely not the case. I get the impression that Polish people as a whole are a fiery group of people who don’t take any crap. They seem to be relentless considering where they have been throughout history to where they are now. This whole conversation lead to discussing immigration in the United States since it is a significant issue there as well. I told them that America is a very divided nation when it comes to this issue. In contrast to America, as well as Germany, it seems as though Poland is fairly united about maintaining closed borders and overall they are glad that President Trump was elected into office.

One of the students I got to know from Poland was named Adam. I asked Adam a few questions about life in Poland, where exactly he is from, what his family is like, etc. After getting to know him a little I explained to him that I was doing a project on immigration in Poland and continued to ask him how he feels immigration is viewed amongst most Polish people. Adam then proceeded to explain that the Polish people, as a whole, are very opposed to foreigners entering their country. I asked him why and his answer made a lot of sense to me. Poland has faced a lot of adversity in its existence of being a country. They have been conquered many times, forgotten about and treated poorly but every time they have prevailed and are currently stronger than ever before. Poland has managed to not only survive but prosper, so why would they desire to let thousands of foreigners, immigrants and refugees into their country at the expense of their country potentially changing for the worse? It is inevitable that if you let people from a different country into your own by the thousands it will change your country in some way or another; whether those people are simply immigrants looking for a different life or refugees seeking asylum. If one looks at the number of other countries in the EU that have done this, they will see that those countries have experienced incredible change. It simply seems as though that is a risk Poland is not willing to take.