The number of Colombians in Poland is rising rapidly. Although they still make up a small portion of the total number of foreigners in the country, they are already among the top nationalities being detained, for illegal stay and illegal employment, among other reasons, according to the Border Guard’s statistical report for the first quarter of 2025. Recently, Colombians have committed several high-profile crimes in Poland, including murder, gang rape, and a terrorist act carried out on behalf of Russian intelligence services.
There are over one million foreigners registered for social security in Poland, the majority of whom are Ukrainians. According to data from the Gremi Personal Analytical Centre, 108 Colombians worked in Poland in 2015, 5,200 in 2023, and already 16,389 in 2025, still a small number relative to the overall foreign population. Unfortunately, the increase in their presence is also tied to a significant rise in border-related and other criminal activities.
Illegal Employment, Unlawful Stay, and More
According to the Border Guard’s statistical report for the first quarter of 2025, Colombians rank third among those detained for illegal stay (344 individuals), behind Georgians (542) and Belarusians (358), but ahead of Moldovans, Ukrainians, and others, a total of 3,253 foreigners.
A year earlier, Colombians ranked sixth, with 107 individuals detained for illegal stay out of a total of 2,794 foreigners.
Ukrainians are the leading group among foreigners found to be working illegally, being illegally employed, or illegally conducting business during the first quarter of this year (900 individuals). The year before, the number was 1,031. Colombians ranked second (280 individuals), up from 166 the year before.
Colombian citizens (51 individuals) ranked second after Ukrainians (190) among those detained for illegally crossing the border from Poland, i.e., attempting to leave the country.
Colombians generally possess genuine documents. Among individuals caught by the Border Guard using forged documents for crossing the border or staying in Poland, only one was a Colombian citizen.
Gang Rape, Murder, Knife Attack, Arson
In February of this year, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Pruszków filed charges against five Colombians who, according to investigators, raped a young Polish woman in a car on the Warsaw–Janki route. A sixth man was charged with aiding and abetting. The crime occurred in the early morning hours of July 28 last year. The men were legally residing and working in Poland at the time, employed as manual labourers in a warehouse for a grocery discount chain.
In early July this year, a 29-year-old Colombian was charged with the murder of a 41-year-old man in Nowe (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship). He faces a life sentence.
Other participants in the altercation, including nine other Colombians, were charged with participating in a brawl that resulted in a person’s death. They face up to 15 years in prison.
Recently, a court in Radom ordered the temporary detention of a 46-year-old Colombian who attacked a local resident with a knife. The incident occurred in front of a hostel where the local man had noticed a car driving against traffic, driven by foreigners.
On July 29, the Internal Security Agency (ABW) announced serious charges against a Colombian suspect. He is accused of acting on behalf of foreign intelligence against the Republic of Poland and committing crimes of a terrorist nature. The case involves arson in May 2024 at two construction supply depots in the Mazovian Voivodeship. The actions were commissioned, supervised, and financed by an individual linked to Russian intelligence services.