A word used from the parliamentary podium clearly caught Włodzimierz Czarzasty off guard. When Confederation MP Witold Tumanowicz spoke about the “mass importation of blacks” in the context of what is currently happening at universities in Lublin, the Speaker of the Sejm repeatedly asked in disbelief: “Importation of whom?” — as if he had heard the word for the first time in his life.
On Wednesday, a protest organized by the academic community under the slogan “3% for science, 100% for Poland” was scheduled to take place in front of the Sejm. Demonstrators are demanding, among other things, an increase in science funding to 3 percent of GDP, higher salaries linked to the national average wage, doctoral scholarships at the level of the minimum wage, and an additional one billion zlotys for basic research.
At the same time, several days ago, public attention was drawn to comments made by Wiktoria Herun, Deputy Director of the Department of Strategy and Investor Services, who admitted that immigrants from more than 100 countries worldwide — including African countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe — are being brought to Lublin together with their families.
The “student route”?
As “Study in Lublin” program coordinator Wiktoria Herun explained, the initiative, which initially focused mainly on helping foreign applicants enroll at universities in Lublin, has significantly expanded over the years. It now includes not only educational support, but also integration of foreigners into the local community, Polish language courses, and assistance in entering the labor market.
Herun pointed out that the profile of students arriving in Lublin has also changed. In addition to people from post-Soviet countries, increasing numbers of students from Africa and Asia are coming to the city. More and more often, they arrive together with their families, creating new needs related not only to education, but also to everyday life — including finding housing for entire families.
The Polish opposition has already reacted to the matter. Law and Justice MP Dariusz Matecki announced that he is submitting an interpellation regarding the arrival in Poland of foreign students from non-EU countries.
“I want to know how many foreigners in 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 came to Poland declaring that they would study — and how many of them actually began those studies. This is a very serious matter. The visa system and the system for admitting foreign students cannot become a loophole for bypassing migration regulations. If someone comes to Poland on the basis of documents related to studies and then does not appear at the university, fails the first year, abandons their studies, or disappears from the system — the state must know what is happening with that person,” he wrote on platform X.
In the text of the interpellation, he posed a number of questions.
“It cannot be the case that a ‘student’ from outside the EU receives the possibility to enter Poland and later the state does not know whether that person is studying, abandoned university, left the country, or is still staying on Polish territory. Poland should remain open — though to a limited extent — to those who genuinely want to study, work legally, and respect our state. But we cannot allow the student procedure to be used as a method for illegal entry or remaining in Poland outside the real control of the state. Donald Tusk’s government must answer clearly: does the Polish state control this process, or is it only pretending that everything is under control?” he added.
Tumanowicz on a harmful practice. Czarzasty surprised by the word “murzyn”
The matter was also commented on today in the Sejm by Confederation MP Witold Tumanowicz.
“Polish universities are being used not for education, but to bring in immigrants on a massive scale, to bring in foreigners. We have a record number of universities, yet year after year we are falling in global rankings. Local officials in Lublin, through statements made by Wiktoria Herun from the city hall, openly boast about the scale of the process of bringing in migrants and entire families,” Tumanowicz said.
He added that “interestingly, the migrants themselves say they came here because it is safer than in their own countries. I wonder why! Western Europe has already shown what the policy of mass migration and ignoring social problems leads to.”
“Poles do not want a repeat of those mistakes in their cities, which is why we call for an end to the mass importation of blacks!” Tumanowicz concluded.
The MP’s remarks prompted an unusual reaction from Włodzimierz Czarzasty. The Speaker of the Sejm repeatedly asked: “Stop importing… whom? Importing whom? Blacks…?”