“There are times in history when you just have to behave decently,” the Mayor of Gdynia said last year, announcing that he was ready to welcome Afghans to his city. This took place when Poland’s eastern border was being invaded by migrants controlled by Lukashenko’s services. Nowadays, in the event of a possible request for help from potential genuine war refugees from Ukraine, the city of Gdynia does not have a proper facility.
Recently, the possibility to support refugees from Ukraine has been talked about more and more. This is due to the growing threat to the country from Russia. It has already been reported, as far as the issue of possible accommodation for Ukrainians is concerned that the governors turned to representatives of local governments.
Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, Maciej Wąsik, said a few weeks ago on TV Republika that up to a million people may flee from Ukraine to escape the war. At the same time, he added that Poland is prepared to receive up to one million people.
In Poland, but not in Gdynia
In one of the letters, the Pomeranian voivode addressed the local government of Gdynia in this matter. The spokesperson of the City Hall, Agata Grzegorczyk, informed that the letter from the voivode was received by the office and it contained a request to examine and indicate possible facilities to accommodate foreigners, in particular, to determine the possibility of accepting foreigners in Gdynia Arena.
As it turned out, in a city with an area of about 135 square kilometres… there is no building to accommodate possible refugees from Ukraine.
“The governor has already received a response that we do not have a facility in Gdynia that can be used for accommodation purposes” explains Grzegorczyk.
Interestingly, as recently as last year, during the pressure on Poland’s eastern border, the Mayor of Gdynia declared that he would accept asylum-seeking Afghans.
“There are times in history when you just have to act decently. We are ready to welcome refugees in such great, urgent and dramatic need. However, we expect that the solidarity and approachability of Polish self-governments will not have to replace the systemic solutions developed by the government administration, which is responsible for,” said the Mayor of Gdynia, Wojciech Szczurek, in 2021.