Poland’s right-wing opposition has criticised the city of Lublin for hosting an Africa Day Festival and welcoming increasing numbers of African students, trigg...
Poland’s right-wing opposition has criticised the city of Lublin for hosting an Africa Day Festival and welcoming increasing numbers of African students, triggering a wider political debate over immigration and international education.
The criticism emerged after organisers promoted the Africa Day Festival, scheduled to take place on May 29 and 30 in the eastern Polish city. The event has been described as a celebration of diversity, intercultural dialogue and international cooperation.
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Krzysztof Bosak, one of the leaders of the far-right Confederation party and deputy speaker of parliament, criticised the festival on social media after sharing a video from the event organisers.
“Residents of Lublin, what is wrong with you that you elect authorities who populate your beautiful city with foreigners?” Bosak wrote online.
The debate intensified after an interview with Wiktoria Herun, Lublin’s deputy director for academic affairs and economic promotion, began circulating widely on social media.
In the interview, originally published in January, Herun spoke about the city’s success in attracting foreign students. She said that while international students previously came mainly from post-Soviet countries, recent years had seen increasing numbers arriving from African countries including Zimbabwe, Nigeria and South Africa.
“The last six years have been primarily Africa – Zimbabwe, Nigeria, South Africa – but recently also Thailand and Saudi Arabia,” Herun said.
She added that many foreign students were now arriving with family members, increasing demand for apartments rather than student dormitories.
The issue drew criticism from both the Confederation party and the national-conservative Law and Justice party, commonly known as PiS, which is Poland’s main opposition group.
Przemysław Czarnek, deputy leader of PiS and the party’s candidate for prime minister in next year’s parliamentary elections, warned against what he described as mass immigration through student visa programmes.
“Neither Lublin nor any other city in Poland needs a programme for the mass importation of migrants from Africa along with their families,” Czarnek said.
He argued that citizens had the right to question changes to the social structure of cities and claimed that mass immigration in Western Europe had contributed to rising crime, tensions and security concerns.
Lublin’s municipal authorities rejected the criticism and defended the city’s international education programmes. The city’s mayor, Krzysztof Żuk, is affiliated with Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition party.
Deputy mayor Tomasz Fulara held a joint press conference with university leaders on Monday, accusing critics of spreading “lies, manipulation and politics of fear.”
“Let me be clear: there is no question of mass migration to Lublin,” Fulara said.
He noted that of the city’s 60,000 students, around 9,000 are foreign nationals, including about 2,000 from African countries. According to Fulara, this represents only 0.7 percent of Lublin’s total population.
Officials at the conference also highlighted the economic contribution made by international students, saying they spend nearly 480 million zloty annually in the city.
University representatives added that most African students return to their home countries after graduating, while others move to western Europe rather than remaining in Poland.
Beata Piskorska, vice rector at the Catholic University of Lublin, said the institution was proud to provide opportunities for students from different nationalities and religions.
Meanwhile, Michał Krawczyk, a member of parliament from the ruling Civic Coalition, criticised the attacks on the Africa Day Festival and defended the city’s international character.
“These attacks are undermining the academic and international character of our city,” Krawczyk wrote on social media.
Poland has experienced major growth in immigration and international student numbers over the past decade. Between 2015 and 2023, the number of foreign students in the country increased from around 57,000 to 107,000.
Data from the 2022/23 academic year showed that Ukrainians remained the largest group of foreign students in Poland, followed by students from Belarus, Turkey, Zimbabwe, India, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, China, Kazakhstan and Nigeria.
According to the figures, there were approximately 3,600 Zimbabwean students studying in Poland during that academic year.
