Poll: Two-thirds of Poles back deportation of unemployed Ukrainian men
A new IBRiS survey for Rzeczpospolita shows most Poles support the opposition PiS party's proposal to deport Ukrainian men of conscription age who lack legal employment, a plan the Interior Ministry has called populist.
A proposal from Poland's opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party to deport Ukrainian men of conscription age who do not have legal employment has found broad support among Poles, according to a new IBRiS poll conducted for the newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
The survey found that 67.2% of respondents support the deportation plan, while 23.4% are opposed. Support rises with age: only 43% of those aged 18-29 back the idea, compared with 80% among people in their 50s. Religious respondents were also more supportive than non-religious ones.
The poll was carried out on 7-8 August, right after PiS presented the proposal, and surveyed more than 1,000 people.
What the proposal entails
PiS has put forward a new migration policy plan whose central element would see Ukrainian men aged 25 to 60 — the conscription age bracket — deported from Poland if they do not hold legal employment there. The idea has triggered wide debate among both politicians and the public.
Karolina Gałecka, spokesperson for Poland's Ministry of the Interior and Administration, dismissed the plan as populism, noting that 95% of Ukrainian men in Poland are legally employed.
Background
On 30 July, the Council of the EU approved by written procedure an extension of temporary protection for Ukrainians across EU countries. The extension includes a new condition under which newly arrived Ukrainian citizens subject to military service will only qualify for the status if their military registration documents are in order.
