Migrants are invading empty properties in the Polish capital of Warsaw, the country’s leader of the opposition has claimed.
Jarosław Kaczyński, the head of Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party, warned in the national parliament that “migrants are breaking into apartments and occupying empty buildings” in parts of Poland’s capital city Warsaw.
“There are already places in Warsaw where the police warn about migrants– where there are attempts to break into apartments and houses at night,” Kaczyński said on October 18.
“Security is at risk, empty buildings are being occupied by migrants.”
Kaczyński’s comments came in the aftermath of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s announcement of a strategy designed to cope with migration, unveiled on October 15.
The plan includes the suspension of accepting asylum applications on Poland’s border with Belarus, which the opposition has claimed was a smokescreen for the government getting ready to receive thousands of relocated migrants under the European Union’s migration pact relocation scheme.
The opposition leader has linked the government’s policy with his own revelations about the activities of migrants: “This phenomenon is hidden from the public because it is local in nature, but there is no doubt that after the implementation of the migration policy, this situation will spread around the country,” Kaczyński said.
He did not identify to which districts of Warsaw he was referring, as he claimed that would betray sources. Poland’s police have refused to comment on the claims, stating they could not do so on unreported incidents.
The opposition leader’s remarks were criticised by government politicians including Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak. He accused Kaczyński of spreading fear as he claimed he did in 2015 with what Siemoniak said were “shameful statements about immigrants who carry parasites”.
He added that if the opposition leader had evidence of breaches of security, he should report them to the police.
Similar sentiments were expressed by Tusk-aligned MP Paweł Wawrynkiewicz, who compared opposition rhetoric on migration to that used recently by Donald Trump in the US.
“This is the same kind of idea as Donald Trump, who said that Haitian refugees in Springfield are eating cats and dogs,” the representative told Polsat News.
Migration was a key issue in last year’s parliamentary election that brought to power Tusk’s centre-left coalition. He and his party attacked the PiS for allowing entry to hundreds of thousands of migrants on working visas while “demonising” migrants as a whole.
Since coming to power, Tusk’s government has taken a tougher line on illegal migration on the border while clamping down on the issuing of work and student visas.
