Frankfurt/Oder – ESI at debate on Poland and Germany’s refugee policy

30 June 2022
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Refugees in Poland. Photo: rbb/P.Banasiak

ESI’s Gerald Knaus was invited to participate in a debate on “Understanding Poland” / “War Refugees and Migrants? The German-Polish Migration Policy”, organised by the German television channel Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB).

Gerald spoke about the current situation in Poland, how millions of Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed but at the same time, migrants from the Middle East are pushed back and deported, putting at risk the lives of migrants, violating their asylum rights, and leaving the Geneva Convention in a fragile state.

Gerald added that a common humane policy regarding borders and asylum is needed within the EU, where pushbacks should not be an established and accepted practice. 

Gerald debated with Marcin Kędzierski (Programme Director of the Centre for Analysis of the conservative Jagiellonian Club), Katarina Niewiedzial (Commissioner for Integration and Migration in Berlin), Rebecca Schönenbach (Columnist of the daily newspaper “Die Welt”). Bartosz T. Wieliński (Deputy editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza), Michael Kurzwelly (refugee aid worker and founder of the Slubfurt e.V. association in Frankfurt/Oder).

The debate was moderated by Magdalena Gwóźdź-Pallokat and Jan Pallokat.