“We said we were afraid of Muslim countries, while at the same time there was an opening to Muslim countries in the foreign minister’s decree. This is a complete mishmash. Poland, as an EU country with migration challenges, must have a "migration bible" to which we will adhere,” Duszczyk emphasized.

Duszczyk emphasized that Poland must be thoughtful and responsible about who enters the country for the sake of security.

“In a book that my research team compiled, we wrote that a country should be as open to immigration as it is able to integrate foreigners into its society, in this case Poland,” he said.

“Selectivity also comes from this, because we are able to accept quite a lot of people from our geographic region, with a similar culture, but much less from Africa. You have to be very responsible not to jeopardize social cohesion,” he added.

Comprehensive, responsible and safe

Duszczyk explained that he wants Poland to adapt and learn from experiences of other European countries with a longer history of immigration.

“We can observe the experience of other countries known for their very liberal approach to immigration policy, when there was a great demand for foreigners in the labor market there,” he reflected.

“We already know how important the issue of the second generation is, because migrants will not come for two or three years and go back. Rather, they will stay and want to bring their families, so the state must be prepared for this. That’s why we define this strategy with three adjectives; comprehensive, responsible and safe,” the deputy minister said.

“We must remember that migrants can be a destabilizing element for Poland. That is why the security element is so important. Also in the case of people entering legally,” Duszczyk went on to say.

Responding to suggestions from some forecasters that Poland would require up to 400,000 new foreign workers per year to secure the future of social security and the economy, Duszczyk said this was an implausible figure.

“If we were to assume that Poland is to have 40 million people in 20 years, it would mean that we have 6-8 million foreigners living with us. This is absolutely impossible. No society, no state system can absorb such a large number of migrants in such a short time without gigantic problems,” he responded.

Duszczyk instead placed more emphasis on adapting the current population to future challenges.

“We will be a less populous country, and a country with a different economic structure, based on greater innovation and technical solutions. Immigration policy is secondary to economic policy,” he asserted.

Repatriation

In response to the question of repatriation of Poles, Duszczyk expressed an eagerness to enable the return of more people.

“This is the most neglected area of migration policy in the Interior Ministry. Thousands of people are waiting for repatriation, and nothing can be done because there are no resources and no sensible policy on how to carry it out. That’s why I will encourage the migration strategy to include how we will conduct repatriation policy to satisfy our moral and ethical obligations,” the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration stated.