The art of restoring bridges

The immigration and integration of the immigrants in post-communist country


Poland is a country of rich, fascinating and inspiring historical heritage. Through ages, Poles
were connected with cultures of numerous countries like Lithuania, Ukraine, Germany, Russia,
Hungary, Austria, France etc. by unions and obligation forced by political situation. In every city
we can find many signs of multicultural societies. Unfortunately, the events of World War II and
the period of communism destroyed the cultural connection, eliminating ethnical and religious
minorities from polish society. During 44 years of communism, Poles were forced to forget how to
coexist with the representatives of another countries, religions or races. After the abolition of
communism, Poland opened her borders for immigration and it became a transition country for those
immigrants who wanted to live in Western Europe. Economic development, joining European Union and
Schengen Area was the impulse for the increased immigration from Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.
Poland became a country that is a final destination for many immigrants.

The questions that I would like to answer are: how polish society finds herself in this situation?
How we can improve the integration of immigrants in modern society? What is the image of immigrants
in polish media? We have to remember that Poland is also a country who produce a considerable
number of immigrants, therefore Poles should be more sensitive and understanding for foreigners
living in their society and they should treat them as they would like to be treated abroad. What is
more, polish people in many countries create problems for the citizens of hosting countries. In
Belgium, for example, Poles are considered thieves, even though there are immigrants from different
countries that statistically causes more robberies. Regrettably, that is not a case. Communism
successfully closed the minds of many generation of Poles and we have to put more effort in
restoring the art of building and restoring bridges with different cultures.

I would like to study the immigration policy of Poland and the demographic structure of minorities
and geographical placement of different communities. I would like to focus on the media and
internet side of this subject because it can be used in my bachelor thesis paper. After studying
previously mentioned aspects I would like to present ideas for improvement of the integration
process, consider different project to change the polish mentality, restore multicultural society
and prepare Poles for the century of globalization and transnationalism.  I’m planning to use
different press articles, blogs and social media regarding immigration and immigrants to analyze
the image of different minorities. Also I want to study the statistics from European Commission
Eurostat.

I would like to study this subject because I consider myself not only a polish citizen, but also an
European. The experiences of Erasmus opened me for different cultures and I’m sure that in some
time I will become an immigrant in one country. I would like to know how can I improve my society
for those who will look for a better life in the same situation that I might be someday.


                                                                                Małgorzata Miszczak