Table Of ContentFROM RECEPTION TO INTEGRATION
OF ASYLUM SEEKERS AND REFUGEES
IN POLAND
This book sheds light on the complex experiences of asylum seekers and refugees
in Poland, against a local backdrop of openly anti-r efugee political narratives and
strong opposition to sharing the responsibility for, and burden of, asylum seekers
arriving in the EU.
Through a multidimensional analysis, it highlights the processes of forced
migrant admission, reception and integration in a key EU frontier country that has
undergone a rapid migration status change from a transit to a host country. The book
examines rich qualitative material drawn from interviews conducted with forced
migrants with different legal statuses and with experts from public administration
at the central and local levels, NGOs, and other institutions involved in migration
governance in Poland. It discusses both opportunities for and limitations on forced
migrants’ adaptation in the social, economic, and political dimensions, as well as
their access to healthcare, education, the labour market, and social assistance.
This book will be of particular interest to scholars, students, policymakers,
and practitioners in migration and asylum studies, social policy, public policy,
international relations, EU studies/E uropean integration, law, economics, and
sociology.
Karolina Sobczak- Szelc is an Assistant Professor at the Centre of Migration
Research of the University of Warsaw and the Centre for Advanced Studies of
Population and Religion, Cracow University of Economics, Poland.
Marta Pachocka is a Head of the Migration Policies Research Unit at the Centre
of Migration Research of the University of Warsaw and an Assistant Professor in
the Department of Political Studies of SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Poland.
Konrad Pędziwiatr is a Professor in the Department of International Affairs
of Cracow University of Economics and a Deputy Director of the Centre for
Advanced Studies of Population and Religion, Cracow University of Economics,
Poland.
Justyna Szałańska is a Research Assistant at the Collegium of Socio-E conomics
of SGH Warsaw School of Economics and an Affiliate of the Centre of Migration
Research of the University of Warsaw, Poland.
Monika Szulecka is a Research Assistant at the Institute of Law Studies, Polish
Academy of Sciences and an Affiliate of the Centre of Migration Research of the
University of Warsaw, Poland.
ROUTLEDGE ADVANCES
IN EUROPEAN POLITICS
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The Pandemic Crisis and the European Union
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Paulo Vila Maior and Isabel Camisão
Belgian Exceptionalism
Belgian Politics between Realism and Surrealism
Edited by Didier Caluwaerts and Min Reuchamps
Rethinking European Social Democracy and Socialism
The History of the Centre- Left in Northern and Southern Europe in the Late
20th Century
Edited by Alan Granadino, Stefan Nygård and Peter Stadius
From Reception to Integration of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Poland
Karolina Sobczak- Szelc, Marta Pachocka, Konrad Pędziwiatr, Justyna Szałańska, and
Monika Szulecka
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routle dge.com/ Routle dge-
Advan ces- in- Europ ean- Polit ics/ book- ser ies/ AEP
FROM RECEPTION
TO INTEGRATION OF
ASYLUM SEEKERS AND
REFUGEES IN POLAND
Karolina Sobczak- Szelc, Marta Pachocka,
Konrad Pędziwiatr, Justyna Szałańska, and
Monika Szulecka
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Karolina Sobczak- Szelc, Marta Pachocka, Konrad Pędziwiatr, Justyna Szałańska,
Monika Szulecka and Uniwersytet Warszawski (University of Warsaw) and Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny
w Krakowie (Cracow University of Economics)
The right of Karolina Sobczak- Szelc, Marta Pachocka, Konrad Pędziwiatr, Justyna Szałańska,
Monika Szulecka and Uniwersytet Warszawski (University of Warsaw) and Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny
w Krakowie (Cracow University of Economics) to be identified as authors of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylor fran cis.com, has been made available
under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non Commercial- No Derivatives 4.0 license.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 05150- 5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 05155- 0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 19632- 7 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003196327
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
CONTENTS
List of Figures ix
List of Tables x
About the Authors xi
Acknowledgements xiii
List of Abbreviations xiv
1 Introduction 1
2 Poland’s Position on the Map of Forced Mobility in the
European Context 20
3 Securitisation of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Political and
Media Discourses 41
4 The Institutional and Legal Basis of the Asylum System 68
5 Experiences in Accessing International Protection 92
6 Access of Asylum Seekers and Refugees to Education:
The Case of Polish Language Learning 120
7 Access to Housing by Asylum Seekers and Beneficiaries of
International Protection 138
viii Contents
8 Integration of Asylum Seekers and Refugees on the Labour
Market 167
9 Access to Healthcare by Asylum Seekers and Beneficiaries of
International Protection 189
10 Until They Become Citizens: Refugees’ Rights, Civic
Participation, and Belonging 207
11 Conclusions 227
Index 233
FIGURES
3.1 Results of CBOS surveys on attitudes towards refugees (2015– 2018) 59
7.1 Number of asylum seekers accommodated in the centres for
foreigners and outside of them, and the total number of places and
free places between 2016 and 2021 142
7.2 Location of the centres for foreigners in Poland (July 2021) 143
