"Should refugees benefit?" How attitudes toward Ukrainians are changing in Poland

The situation has changed significantly over the past three years, notes Ignacy Jóźwiak a migration researcher from the University of Warsaw, quoted by Socportal.

And what used to be marginalised now exists openly. It is a bad attitude towards Ukrainians or even outright hatred. Ukrainians in Poland say that there is hardly a day when they don't hear something unpleasant on the street or someone looks at them with hostility, says researcher.

Anti-Ukrainian rhetoric is influenced not only by historical topics, but also by media discussions about Ukrainian grain, which mostly went in transit, and competition from Ukrainian carriers. Little attention is paid to the fact that Polish companies plan to join international projects to rebuild Ukraine, and Warsaw is preparing to host the Ukraine Recovery Conference in 2026. The Russian threat is also not emphasized, although Poland is actively militarizing and remains a key hub for the transfer of Western weapons.

The focus of harsh right-wing criticism is Ukrainian refugees. They are accused of alleged ingratitude and “eating up” budget funds. At the same time, data indicates the opposite, emphasizes Marta Nowak, co-host and author of the program “What is this?” (“Co to Będzin”) in Gazeta.pl.

The integration of Ukrainian migrants into the Polish labour market has been very smooth. According to a study by Deloitte for UNHCR (which was widely quoted after President Karol Nawrocki put forward the idea of cutting child benefits for unemployed Ukrainian citizens): currently 69% of working-age Ukrainians living in Poland are employed, compared to 75% of Poles. This is a surprisingly small gap, considering the fact that a great part of Ukrainian migrants only arrived to Poland in the last 3.5 years and many of them are mothers raising children. In 2024, Ukrainian citizens helped generate 2.7% of Poland's GDP. They increased Polish budget revenues by over PLN 15 billion, Marta Nowak says.

Such figures, according to her, completely refute the claims of right-wing politicians about the «economic burden». Ignacy Juzwiak adds that statistics are an important tool for countering the outright lies of the far-right.

However, he warns of another risk — normalization of the narrative about «benefits».

We can say that Ukrainians and other migrants are useful to our economy, they give more than they take. But if we imagine that we are talking about a person who cannot work? For example, Ukrainian pensioners, of which there are many in Poland, or single mothers with many children?, the researcher notes.

It is this approach, in his opinion, that led to the government's decision to limit child benefits, tying them to employment.

Supporting refugees should not be about profit. For me personally, as a migration researcher and someone who has a positive attitude towards migrants and Ukrainian society, this narrative is very problematic. Because support and solidarity should be for everyone who needs it, not based on the fact that the receiving society has some benefit from it, says the Polish researcher.