Poland to deport more migrants who committed crimes
Poland is preparing further deportation flights for migrants who have committed crimes in the country, the interior minister has said.
"The scale is significant," Tomasz Siemoniak told reporters on Wednesday, referring to the number of migrants to be deported.
"We'll certainly be informing you about those deportation flights," he added.
On February 13 and 14, law enforcement services carried out a large-scale operation aimed at busting migrant criminal gangs in which 1,474 people were detained, of whom 398 faced deportation.
Siemoniak said that some of the detainees would be tried in Poland.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on the X platform that Siemoniak had briefed him on the February 13-14 operation, adding that the time had come for deportations.
On Wednesday, the interior minister said that the violations included working without a permit, ignoring residence permit deadlines and traffic offences, but also serious crimes. "Assault, burglary, robbery and murder are also in the catalogue," he said.
Ukrainian nationals dominate among the suspects because "close to two million Ukrainian citizens are residing on the territory of Poland," Siemoniak said, adding that Georgian nationals constituted the second largest group.
Siemoniak said that petty crimes and offences were not a reason for deportation.
"Every decision... is completely justified, fact-based," he said. "No-one will be deported for traffic offences. But this may happen when it comes to repeated cases of extending residence without a permit or working without a permit."
Last year, close to 8,000 people were deported from Poland, Siemoniak said.
The minister said that migrants who obey the law, work legally and pay taxes are welcome in Poland. "Those committing crimes are definitely not," he said. (PAP)
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