Challenges to the state policy towards migration processes in Poland

Abstract

In quantitative dimension, Poland is a significant émigré country in which the scale of external outflow has been maintained at the level of about 2 million people for many years. In the light of (Central Statistical Office) data in 2016, 2 million 515 thousand Poles were abroad temporarily for a period of more than 3 months. An important task of migration policy is therefore to minimise the negative effects of mass emigration and to maximise the benefits resulting from this process. At the same time, in the decade after 2010, the volume of foreigners coming to Poland increased significantly and it should be expected that, as the socio-economic attractiveness of the country has grown, this group would be increasing as well. According to the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy (Ministerstwo Rodziny, Pracy i Polityki Społecznej) data, 235 626 work permits were issued in 2017, including 192 547 to Ukrainian citizens (ca. 82%). To compare, in the same year, the district employment offices (Powiatowy Urząd Pracy) registered 1 824 464 declarations of intention to work to foreigners, including 1 714 891 towards the citizens of Ukraine (94%). The discussion on the nature of immigration policy is therefore unavoidable. The growing inflow of foreigners is gaining a special demographic, social and political significance in the context of unfavourable forecast of population changes in Poland. It also has an important regional dimension. From this perspective, foreigners will be needed on the Polish labour market to alleviate already existing and projected shortages of labour resources. An important challenge is to develop a strategy for the integration of social, economic and cultural foreigners into the Polish society. Consequently, the persistent mass emigration, growing immigration, unflagging migration potential and, more expected than real, the return of Poles from emigration are a great challenge for the Polish economy and society as well as for regions. This multidimensional nature of foreign migration in Poland makes the emergence of migration policy system, corresponding to internal and external conditions, a necessity. The postulate of the formulation of the foundations of a migration policy appeared in Poland at the beginning of the 1990s, but until now a coherent system of this policy has failed to develop as a complementary element of the socio-economic policy of the country.