Organizerecs.gda.plplans for refugees may have been put
on hold by the Polish government, but
“refugees in Poland still exist,” Zofia
says, stressing how, “most of these
people have enormous problems finding
accommodations because they’re
foreigners.” “We help them out as much
as we can,” she adds.
Another initiative, Bread and Salt
(Chlebem i Solą), has spread through
Poland in the last few months. Founded
in July 2014, the initiative aims to
debunk negative stereotypes associated
with refugees, its name referring to
the old Polish tradition of welcoming
guests by offering them bread and salt.
Chlebem i Solą also started uchodzcy.
info (refugees.info), a Polish-language
portal created with the help of the Stefan
Batory Foundation that focuses on the“migration crisis,” suggesting possible
ways to help refugees.
“Although this topic has not left the front
pages of Polish newspapers for months,
there was still no complex source of
reliable information that would help sort
out the facts and make factual discussions
possible,” stresses Michał Borkiewicz, one
of the founders of Chlebem i Solą. 18
According to Borkiewicz, “informational
chaos fosters repeating stereotypes and
nourishes prejudice,” and explains, “that’s
why the public debate on refugees here
[in Poland] came down to alarmingly low
levels.”Agata Mazepus
Co-author Lorenzo BerardiRead more on
visegradrevue.eu/poland-and-refugees-
some-people-are-more-welcome-than-others/
More information about the project on
new.solidarityacademy.eu
Contact
[email protected]Agata Mazepus
Fot. Grzegorz Mehring / ECS ArchiveYEARSADVERTISEMENT