Polish MP calls for deportation of unemployed Ukrainians: a brigade could be assembled

Andrzej Śliwka, an opposition Law and Justice party member of parliament, is insisting on the deportation of unemployed Ukrainians from Poland, claiming that at least a brigade could be assembled from them for the war.

"Even if it is 5 per cent, that is at least a brigade, or even a division of people, who could be organised and who can fight for their country," the politician stated on Polsat News.

The MP was commenting on his party's recent proposal providing for the deportation from Poland of Ukrainian men of military age who do not have legal employment in Poland.

Maciej Duszczyk, Deputy Interior and Administration Minister, had previously described such a step as "very unlikely" and added that "Ukrainians who are in Poland and not working are some small handful of people, perhaps 5 per cent".

Asked by the host who would identify such individuals and "round them up", Śliwka said: "That is what Polish services exist for. I think we would like – and I hope you would too, Mr Editor, as would our viewers – to know who is in Poland illegally or who is in Poland but not working. Such individuals should be identified, and this information is necessary even for our security."

The MP had previously stated that the question of deporting Ukrainian citizens should be viewed "from two sides" – namely from the side of the increasingly frequent cases of "gangs of foreigners who are not legally employed" and from the side of the policies pursued by Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"President Zelenskyy is, one might say, taking a risk but trying to find some new direction in Polish-Ukrainian relations," Śliwka said, adding as an argument that Ukraine, fighting Russia, needs support.

Asked whether the party has ideas regarding "non-working Georgians, Belarusians, Russians, or Germans", Śliwka stated: "This proposal is connected above all with the fact that the Ukrainian side is facing enormous problems of personnel shortages, as well as desertion."

"I believe that a deadline should be set by which these individuals must return to Ukrainian territory, and if they do not return, Polish services must take action in accordance with the law and deport these individuals. To me this is obvious," the MP concluded.

Poland's Interior Ministry previously stated that the opposition Law and Justice party's statements on the deportation of Ukrainians of military age constitute populism.

The EU Council approved the extension of the temporary protection regime for Ukrainians in European Union countries by written procedure on 30 July, with the new provision that newly arrived Ukrainian citizens of military age will be eligible for the status only in the absence of issues with their military registration documents.