Warsaw, Poland. In no great mystery, Poland has taken a cue from it’s southern neighbor Hungary in how to deal with migrants. But it can get uncomfortable, when your country was the home to really big camps for housing other people, from not all that long ago in history’s time line.
The Polish government is pursuing immigration reforms that would see asylum seekers kept in fenced in border camps where they would be housed in shipping containers that are making some highly uncomfortable, given Poland’s past history with “camps”.
The ruling Law and Justice party aims to “prevent efforts to illegally move to Western Europe” more migrants- if a new migrant crisis erupts. Interior Minister Mariusz Błaszczak told Polish radio the country needs to “be ready” to prevent what it calls illegal entry, likening the plan to “similar container camps in France and Germany.”
Which makes perfect sense if your familiar with other “camps” used in France and Germany like Buchenwald, Dachau, Mauthausen or Ravensbruck. Why given it is Poland one might remember how “well” camps functioned there previously like- Auschwitz, Birkenau, Sobibor or Treblinka.
The proposal, similar to a controversial policy in Hungary, would allow border guards to detain asylum seekers for four weeks while applications are being processed. It would also approve regulations for life in the camps, including the use of converted shipping containers as temporary shelter.
Even though the country did not bear the brunt of the 2015 European migrant crisis, Poland has seen a recent rise in anti-foreign, particularly anti-Muslim attitudes.After winning the majority, the Polish government backed out of an agreement to resettle about 80,000 plus asylum seekers in Poland.