Polish president voices support for referendum on refugees

Poland's President Andrzej Duda said today that he supports holding a referendum asking Poles if they want to accept refugees, but not until 2019 and only if migration is still a "problem" then.
Such a referendum would see Poland following the path of Hungary, where voters were asked last year if they wanted to resettle refugees as part of a European Union programme. The vote was declared invalid because of low turnout, but the overwhelming number that cast valid ballots, 98 per cent voted against resettlement.
The Hungarian vote allowed the government to keep the issue on the agenda, while Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has sealed of Hungary's borders against migrants, said it gave his government political backing when confronting the EU on the matter.

Law and Justice, the nationalist conservative ruling party in Poland, like Orban's Fidesz party, vehemently opposes accepting refugees, a stance putting the two countries at odds with EU leaders.
Ewa Ostaszewska-Zuk, with the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Warsaw, said she sees no reason for a referendum because the number of people seeking asylum in Poland is already low and that the vote would serve mainly to promote anti-migrant sentiment.
"Right now the government talks about migrants in only one way: they are a threat to the security, they are dangerous, they are terrorists; we will not take anyone because we are looking after the safely of Poles," said Ostaszewska-Zuk, who heads the foundation's program of legal aid for migrants and refugees.

In case of a vote, she said non-governmental groups would need to give the public more objective information about foreigners, letting them know they don't pose security threats when national authorities carry out effective vetting procedures.