1. society
2. racism

13
2010
E n g l i s h
E D i t i o n
ISSN 1896-2734
World Refugee Day 2010
On 20th June we will
celebrate in Poland the
sixteenth anniversary of
the World Refugee Day.
On this occasion the Polish
Humanitarian Action would
like to invite you to the 5th
Refugee Films’ Review.
The Review is to take place in the Kinoteka
cinema in Warsaw from 18th to 23rd June. It will
start with a French film by Philippe Lioret entitled “Welcome”, which won the European Parliament LUX Prize in November 2009. The film
is a story of Bilal, a refugee and a teenager from
Kurdistan, who, under the tutelage of a swimming coach, trains to swim through the English
Channel.
Another interesting part of the World Refugee Day is an art competition for junior secondary school students and above called “Refugees:
conventionally/unconventionally.” All the award
winning works will be available to see on the
premises of Kinoteka.
The main idea behind this Review is to draw
the attention of the society towards the problem of refugees – people who had to leave their
homes and seek for refuge abroad because
of the persecutions they encountered in their
homelands. All the films present the subject of
refugees and migration from various perspectives – starting with the reasons behind them,
to finish with the problems with adaptation in
the country of arrival.
Apart from Warsaw, the Review is going
to take place in cinemas round Wrocław (Lalka cinema), Toruń (Nasze Kino) and Cracow
(“Gazeta Café”).
Program of Refugee Films’ Review p.
PAH’s Competition: refugees in and out of
template p.
Translated by Adam Misiewicz
TOLERANCE: How to make
Poles love foreigners
A
ccording to the researches carried
out globally at the end of the decade, in a scale ranging from 0 to 5,
the tolerance index in Poland was
1.7 (0 was equivalent to the highest level
of tolerance, 5 being the lowest). In order
to get Poles closer to 0 on the scale the
Polish government appointed the Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment in 2008.
His/her obligation is to disseminate
knowledge regarding the issue of equal
rights and to prevent discrimination due
to sexual, racial, ethnic, national or religious reasons, political views, age, sexual
orientation, marital or familiar status.
The task of the office of the Plenipotentiary is to conduct analyses with regard
to equal rights and to issue opinions on
the drafts of legal acts and governmental
documents. Their task is also to promote
equal treatment within the press and organizations which deal with these issues.
In our country, there is also a team monitoring the National Program for Counteracting Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and the Related Intolerance, their task
being to combat intolerance. The activities of these institutions are supposed to
be reflected in Polish legislation shortly
but they may not change the attitudes of
Poles. This is the reason why there are so
many independent non-governmental
Every fourth Pole does not want an immigrant to
be his/her neighbour. How can we change our
attitude? We should meet foreigners, participate in
the workshops about different cultures and go to the
refugee film festivals. We are going to give some ideas
on how to convince Poles to not be afraid of foreigners.
Lidia Świderska
organizations and private foundations
working to promote tolerance.
Below, we list some of their ideas for
propagating tolerance in Polish society.
Colour my world…
Since 2000, the city of Łódź fights
against “anti-Semitism, racism and human stupidity” with a brush! The inhabitants of Łódź, in the annual Coloured
tolerance action, paint over any racist
inscriptions and offensive slogans on the
walls of the town. However, there are sill
those who graffiti the walls of buildings.
The thousands of pupils who have par-
ticipated in the coloured tolerance action
have been taught a valuable lesson and
will hopefully never use graffiti to express their anger.
The organizations from the district of
Warsaw – Ochota presented a different
idea. As part of the project Ochota’s point
of view, the organizations urged young
people to be tolerant of their neighbours
of non-Polish descent. Young people interviewed the foreign students, owners
of Vietnamese bars and traders of different nationalities trading at the Banach’s
Market (Hala Banacha). This provided
them with an opportunity to observe
how they lived.
In turn, in a number of towns of
Jonkowo and Węgajty District (Warmian-Masurian Province), where a black
actor was beaten, the children from rural
schools and after-school clubs participated in the drama workshops Step into
my shoes which was designed to build
a local chain of tolerance. Under the slogan of Together for tolerance, together
against discrimination similar classes
were given to 83 students from Ostróda,
Morąga, Iława and Olsztynka. These actions resulted in a considerable increase
in knowledge about discrimination and
increased understanding of the idea of
tolerance. Difficult as it may be to evaluate whether such meetings cause a permanent change of attitude, there is no
doubt that it is always worth trying.
Refugee – my good
neighbour
It is difficult for a person from another culture to find himself/herself in
a new country where a foreign language
is spoken and there are different customs
and values. Mutual understanding is the
first step to mutual acceptance and good
collaboration.
p. 3
World Refugee Day 2010
Program of 5th Refugee Films’ Review
Linda and Ślesicki
wholeheartedly invite
on Polish Humanitarian
Action film festival
We would like to invite you on
a unique event which undoubtedly is the
Refugee Film Review. The issue of refuge
is surely a difficult subject matter for the
cinematography.
Numerous film creators, both commercial and non-commercial, all over
the world try to take up this challenge,
just to name refugees from Ethiopia, Vietnam and Palestine, as well as refugees
living in Libya, the USA and Poland.
Refugees in feature films, documentaries
and film animation. The Refugee Film
Review organized by the Polish Humanitarian Action will undoubtedly provide
the audience with extensive material to
think over.
We invite you to challenge your own
emotions and beliefs.
Bogusław Linda i Maciej Ślesicki
What films
are to be seen
during the festival?
Welcome
(France, 2009) – To
impress his wife, Simon decides to help
a young Kurdish refugee who intends to
swim through the English Channel.
Second-hand (Poland, 2006)
– 19-year old Wojtek, brought up without a father lives in Silesia. He falls in
love with Katya – an Ukrainian emigrant
with a child. He is ready to do everything
to help her to get the permanent residence permit in Poland.
Persepolis (France/USA, 2007) –
Tehran, 1978. 8-year old Marjane dreams
of becoming a prophet so as to save the
world.
Dream seller
(Poland 2009)
– a full of tension and emotions story of
two Dagestan children, their illegal journey through Europe, and their encounter with Stefan, an inhabitant of eastern
Poland.
The Silence of Lorna
(France/Belgium, 2008) – Lorna, an Albanian, lives in Belgium, and awaits the
moment her boyfriend will join her. Her
friend, Fabio, arranges a fictitious marriage between her and a drug addict
Claude, which will allow her to obtain
the Belgium citizenship and fulfill her
dream of opening a shop in Liege.
The other bank
(Georgia,
2009) – During the conflict between
Georgia and Abkhazia, young Tedo together with his mother decides to leave
Abkhazia. His gravely ill father has to
stay at home. A couple of years later,
12-year old Tedo together with his
mother, living on the outskirts of Tbilisi,
struggle to make ends meet.
Warszawa
(Kinoteka)
Wrocław
(Lalka)
Toruń
(Nasze kino)
17 June
Friday
18 June
Saturday
19 June
sobota
20 June
Sunday
21 June
Monday
22 June
Tuesday
23 June
Wednesday
18:00 Welcome
16:00 Hanoi-Warszawa
Persepolis
20:30 Like a Man on Earth 18:00 Lorna’s Silence
25 Thousands Tents
17:00 The Other
Bank
18:00 Retrieval
16:00 Exils
15:00 Persepolis
20:00 Henryk Wars, A
18:00 My Flesh My Blood
Songster of Warsaw
Welcome to Tijuana
18:00 Persepolis
16:00 Henryk Wars,
15:00 Exils
A Songster of
20:00 Miracle Seller
Warsaw
Like a Man
on Earth
18:00 The Other Bank
18:00 My Flesh My Blood
20:00 Gran Torino
18:00 Exils
20:00 Lorna’s Silence
18:00 The Other Bank
20:00 Welcome
Kraków
(Gazeta Cafe)
17:00 Hanoi-Warszawa
18:00 Henryk Wars, A
Songster of Warsaw
19:30 My Flesh My Blood
17:00 Welcome to Tijuana
18:00
19:00
16:00
18:00
25 Thousands Tents
Lorna’s Silence
The Other Bank
Like a man on Earth
19:30 Retrieval
A foreigner, an immigrant or a refugee?
How Lublin promotes tolerance
Ilona Sójka
If you are not indifferent
to the fate of another
person’s life, come
and burn a pot of
superstitions with us!
– Under this slogan
Amnesty International
invited the citizens
of Lublin to an event
highlighting refugees’
problems on April 21st.
– Uchodźca a migrant ekonomiczny
– ”There is a big difference between
a refugee and an economic migrant,”
says Ula Kuźnicka, the event organizer. Ula states that the main goal of
the event was to reach people and try
to prevent the spread of hurtful stereotypes about refugees who very often
are portrayed as “those who prey on
the Polish budget”. However, it can be
very difficult to change the way refugees are seen.
“During the event I was approached
by an aggressive man. He claimed that
as an unemployed person he felt like
a refugee in his own country,” recalls
Kuźnicka. “This is a good example that
shows the gaps in the Polish mentality
and some lack of sensitivity.”
In the Lublin voivodeship there are
about 1500 refugees in 4 refugee centers. These are the people who every
day have to face stereotypes rooted in
us like a disease. Their presence in our
country causes fear. However, an article in Panorama Lubelska, “Living next
to us”, states that for many of refugees
Poland is just one stop in a long journey. Yet not everybody knows this. To
promote this we need more information events just like the one organized
by Amnesty International in Lublin.
During the second part of the
event, which took place in the Creative
Space Initiative Tektura, the participants could watch movies and theatre
sketches, listen to music (played by
“Wschodni Sam Bastion” Band), and
learn more about refugees. “Many attending students were surprised to
find out that children and youth from
the refugee centers have problems with
Poster of AI’s action in Lublin
access to education,” comments Ula
Kuźnicka.
At the end of the event, a dozen
people dared to burn some stereotypical leaflets in the “superstitions pot”.
“This way they signed up to the event’s
mission,” rejoices the organizer.
Translated by Marzena Szewczyk
from p. 1
TOLERANCE:
How to make
Poles love foreigners?
The objective of a video guide by the
Immigration Forum is to help foreigners easily understand Poland. These
instructions cover cultural differences
and methods of adapting to a new life in
a country ruled by other standards of behaviour. They offer also, to the refugees,
an explanation of the rights and obligations related to work, school, medical
care and integrated help.
As a part of the Refugee – my good
neighbour project which is aimed at the
Chechen refugees living in Linin and
Smoszewo (Masovian Province), a guide
is currently being prepared for publication. Regular meetings are also planned
in order to understand the expectations
and requirements of the Polish school.
Workshops regarding the Chechen culture and tradition will be carried out at
schools located near the organizations.
These are aimed at Polish children, their
parents and teachers who attend classes
with the children of refugees.
Meanwhile, at the school of Brwinów
(Masovian Province), local children and
foreigners look through the Window on
the world together when they meet once
a month at to attend capoeira classes
(Brazilian dance) and artistic workshops.
Together, showing no prejudice.
Cinema films
On the International Day of Refugees
on 20th June a Review of refugee-related
films is organized annually with both
documentary and feature films are pre-
sented. In previous editions of the review, the spectators could see, inter alia,
Polska szkoła nad Balatonem (Polish
school on the Lake Balaton) describing
the fate of Hungarian immigrants during World War II, Living Afterwards –
about the history of three young widows
experiencing the tragedy of the Balkans
war or Welcome to Sarajevo – an account
of a wedding day which turns out to be
a day of tragedy for the newly married
couple from Bosnia. Numerous photo
exhibitions, social campaigns and lectures are part of the festival.
In December,Watch Docs an international festival of documentaries about human rights observance will be celebrated
in Warsaw. When the Warsaw projects
are finished a travelling festival visiting
30 Polish towns will be held. Admission
to all film screenings and accompanying
events of Watch Docs is free.
Travelling without crossing
the borders
In August, during the street festival
Multicultural Warsaw Street Party which
has been organized for three years, music from different corners of the world
is heard in the Warsaw streets. National
and ethic minorities together with immigrants living in Warsaw present their
cultural heritage through art, music and
dance. African, Arabian, Hispanic, Caucasian communities as well as Hindu,
Vietnamese and Ukrainian communities
set up stalls to sell craftworks and typical food from their regions. There is also
dance workshops, the opportunity to
learn how to brew a Caucasian coffee and
how to create origami. It is a great opportunity to familiarize yourself with other
cultures without leaving the country.
Sri Lankan tomato paste, Somali tea or
Vietnamese soup are available to be tried
every month during meetings known as
Below the horizon which are organized
by the Centre of Intercultural Initiatives
in Warsaw. The meetings organized by
refugees, enthusiasts and travellers include a slide show, music show, short language lessons and snacks.
A similar message of being open to
all cultures of the contemporary world
inspires the organizers of the CrossCulture Warsaw Festival. During the
past 5 years of the festival more than 120
groups and individual artists from over
45 countries have performed. This year’s
festival edition starts on 13th September
in Warsaw.
Sport = tolerance
A separate category of intolerance is
demonstrated by the behaviour of football fans. The Kick Racism Out of the
Stadium campaign is aimed at fighting
anti-fascist symbols in flags, chants and
exclamations as well as targeting the behaviour towards black football players
such as imitating the sound of monkeys
and throwing bananas. The organizer of
the campaign is the Assembly Against
Racism and through their Never More
program carried out educational action
during the 2006 World Championships
and 2008 European Championships
while, before Euro 2012, they are con-
ducting a series of anti-racist actions in
Poland and Ukraine.
All clubs of the Polish Ekstraklasa
(soon lower leagues) have been given
a How to fight racism guide in which the
most frequent racist actions are discussed
and practical hints regarding combating
them are delivered. As a part of Show
Racism The Red Card, promotional and
educational activities are being conducted at sport clubs, schools and during
matches, regardless of the sport.
What do we need tolerance
for?
When the word “tolerance” is googled, more than 448 thousand results are
given. The most frequent definition of
this concept says it is an acceptance of
views, beliefs and conducts that we do
not share. Working on such an attitude
seems to be an ambitious task but at the
same time it has many advantages!
This statement is supported by the
results of the research carried out by the
University of Michigan. Since 1981, the
researchers annually ask 2 questions:
“How do you estimate your happiness?”
and “Are you currently satisfied with
your life?” to participants in 97 countries. What is surprising is the fact that
the richest countries are not on the list
of the happiest. The results show that the
essential factor of being happy is freedom of choice and (precisely) tolerance.
Tolerance is the source of feeling safe and
makes people feel happy so we should
make every effort to promote a tolerant
attitude in Polish society. Innumerable
examples from organizations spread over
the country show it is possible.
Translated by Agnieszka Rabiega
CORRECT LANGUAGE:
is it worth being politically correct?
Marzena Zera
Political correctness (PC) is, by its
opponents, referred to as neo-censorship and cultural terrorism, whereas its
supporters call it a cultural norm. No
matter how controversial, PC is here to
stay for good, telling us how to use certain symbols and expressions in order
not to hurt feelings of particular social
groups. Sometimes however, PC rules
may cause confusion in the use of language. Let’s try to find out what are the
intentions behind PC and whether altering our expressions may lead to altering
our souls.
Reasonable amount of political correctness may do us good. It may stimu-
late our culture to become more sensitive to the suffering, caused by the socalled hate speech, as well as all to other
forms of discriminations of minorities
not strong enough to protect themselves. There are no doubts that this
idea, having its roots in cultural Marxism popularized in the second part of
20th century, played a very useful role
in opposing racism, xenophobia and intolerance. However, PC on certain level
becomes a parody of itself. In United
States we can’t say not only Negro, term
replaced by Afro-American, and Indian,
replaced by Native Americans, but also
“black bread,” as it is said to arouse racist connotations. In politically correct
American circles there are no fat, or tall
people, but horizontally and vertically
challenged, whereas mentally retarded
are “gifted differently”. While introducing PC language, Germany dropped us-
ing the words: Gastarbeiter (immigrant
for money), now foreign co-citizen,
Putzfrau (cleaning lady), now Raumpfleigner (person responsible for space),
and “alcoholic”, now “a person addicted
to alcohol.” Scholars are not allowed to
test intelligence with correlation to race;
it is even forbidden to mention the shade
of the skin. The record of PC absurd
however belongs to “New England Journal of Medicine” which became an advocate of the term “dead person” in place
of “corpse.”
By-product of taming
the world
PC is neither codified nor coherent
set of rules. There are no institutions
responsible for enforcing PC. It is rather
a social phenomenon present in public
life. As such, it is based on a conventional codes and requires of its users knowledge, reason and intuition. What’s one
man’s food, and may appear as funny,
may become another man’s poison and
may be received as an outrage. Citizens of different countries have different types and levels of sense of humor
which is very often based on their history, culture, religion and general way
of life. Each nation has its own variety
of “there is this Pole, German and Russian” joke. Such jokes were appeared as
a side effect during the process of adaptation to the world, which inevitable
contains stereotypes and exaggeration
of neighbors’ vices. This paradoxically,
makes us feel more comfortable within
their presence.
p. 4
from p. 3
CORRECT
LANGUAGE:
is it worth being
politically correct?
Orthodox PC is not only threatening
to sense of humor, but it may lead to effects opposite to those desired. Is it right
to forbid rude and even crude, so for many
the funniest, jokes? Politically incorrect
expressions taste like forbidden fruit.
Longing for language free from restriction and rules is expressed by existence
of British Campaign Against Political
Correctness or comedy movement, born
in the USA couple of years ago, known
as backlash. Cartoons enjoying cult status like Beavis and Butthead or South
Park, filled with provocative, tasteless
and anti-social humor have huge audience. English are more reserved when
it comes to humor, though it was British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen who
added his Borat to the backlash comedy.
American fans of House, M.D. love the
main character for his unsophisticated
epithets and harsh replies, which, due
to lack of PC, make the dialogues sound
fresh.
Problem with words
„Murzyn”
European Commission accused Poland of sins (according to PC standards) of sexism, racism and intolerance
present in media, advertisements, education and politics. Has anything changed
since we bowed our heads before PC
dictatorship? In times of rapid progress,
language also evolves and nothing can
stop this phenomenon. In the name of
PC, words used for generations acquire
demonic meaning. When Murzynek
Bambo (“Bambo, the Negro”) written by
a Polish Jew Julian Tuwim, was pushed
underground in the peak phase of introducing PC rules to the language, it
occurred that the British face similar
problems. British radical PC supporters combat the original title of Joseph
Conrad’s “Nigger from the Narcissus.”
Negro, as an expression describing person of Negroid race, was neutral in the
Polish language couple of years ago, now
it becomes replaced by “black-skinned.”
There are no reasons to accuse neither
Polish poet, nor English novelist of racism. “No matter how much we would
like, we can’t blame Grimm brothers
for insensitivity to problems of women,
minority’s culture and environment. In
Hans Christian Andersen’s Phariseean
Copenhagen nobody gave a damn about
inalienable rights of mermaids.”
Its also hard to blame elderly generations for ignorance in terms of newspeak.
Seniors have the right not to know that
inhabitants of Greenland prefer to be
called Inui, not Eskimo. Besides, there
is no need to transplant all foreign lexical habits on our ground. Some linguists
notice that rules of PC are unnecessary
applied to phrases which don’t have negative connotations in the given culture.
Professor Jerzy Bralczyk, well known
Polish linguist, claim that we shouldn’t
erase traditional expressions describing
other nations, but rather use them in
positive contexts. There seems to be no
need to impoverish the vocabulary and
strip the phraseology of emotions. The
repetitiveness of such a phenomenon
may result in neutral terms becoming
pejorative.
Language creates reality
Poland is not the only country struggling with curiosities of enforcing PC
terms to the language. When Germany
tried to introduce alternative names for
Jewish minority, e.g. “Germans of Moses confession” some Jews protested, as
not every Jew is religious. At our western
neighbors it’s no use to ask for Gypsies,
there are only Romani and Sinti people.
Also in Poland there are less and less Gypsies and more and more Romani people.
At least officially, common citizens are
still unaware what exactly does Romani
people mean, what are the differences
between Romani and Gypsy and why is
the Gypsy considered offensive. Maybe
soon we will ask ourselves where have
all the gypsies go? Sometimes it occurs
that members of minorities doesn’t wish
to pay special, even positive, attention to
their race, believing that it casts a shadow on their humanity, which should be
beyond racial or ethnical classification.
And thus many blacks frown upon focusing on their color of skin, like Jews
who frown upon not only anti-Semitism,
but also filo-Semitism.
According to professor Andrzej Szahaj PC actions may have sense when
they lead to shift not only in the way of
speaking, but first of all in the way of
thinking. PC supporters argue that language not only describes but also creates
reality, forcing desired meaning on used
terms. Supporters believe that shift in
speaking will lead to shift in the perception of the world and people’s behavior.
Putting it in the nutshell, PC supporters
that by speaking differently, people will
think differently and act differently.
Iconic American TV series “South Park” is famous for not being politically correct
Should we teat symptoms
or causes?
So what is the ideal solution? Therapy
focusing on symptoms, or reasons? Isn’t
it deluding to think that by sole manipulation with words and meanings we
are able to smooth away dislike, disrespect and even hatred between different
groups of people? One thing is for sure,
we should pay attention to neutral thinking, avoid patronization, and respect
dignity of “others.” Political correctness
will never replace good manners, it does
not stand for politeness and prudence in
language usage, about which we should
remember anywhere and anytime, not
only on special occasions or in the public debates.
Let’s hope that our country is free
from hate speech, “niggers,” “kikes,” or
“gypos”, tool used for spreading antisocial prejudice and discrimination. It
is worth remembering that each person
enjoys freedom of speech which is guaranteed in Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Everyone should be free to
express their ideas on different subjects
without facing social or legal consequences, as long as they are not speaking
for violence.
Translated by Bartosz Rumieńczyk
Are you being discriminated against?
Have you come across a dishonest employer?
Has a public official been unkind to you?
Write to us!
We will not solve all your problems
but we will certainly try to help you
or at least warn the others.
Has anyone been particularly helpful to you?
Have they behaved honorably?
Do you wish to thank them?
Write to us!
We want to promote good practices!
REFUGEE.pl Gazeta Uchodźców
ul. Szpitalna 5/18, 00-031 Warszawa
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone +48 (22) 828 88 82,
Facsimile +48 (22) 831 99 38
Łuków came with an idea of creating a theatre club, whose members would be Chechen children from the local
refugee centre. The young actors have already visited numerous schools with their theatre performance „The Story
of Pharmat” which has started to introduce the Chechen culture to Polish students. The members of the club plan
to invite some Polish children to their theatre in the near future.
Art as a means of teaching tolerance
Monika Sydor
The whole idea of creating a music
and theatre performance group occurred
at the beginning of last year from the initiative of “For the Earth” Pro-Ecological
Association and the “Homo Faber” Association. The group of children is looked
after and tutored by Tomasz Kozdraś and
Elżbieta Rojek, who is an actress and director fascinated by the Caucasus region.
The coordinator of the project is Ewa
Kozdraj.
The theatre performance group is
called „Ili” and has eleven actors and eleven people playing the drums. The youngest of them Abubakar is 5 years old, and
the oldest Bisłan who is 15. Bisłan, who is
one of the main protagonists in the play
– a Chechen narrator, has worked with
the group from its creation and plans
a professional career in acting.
The idea of staging “The Story of
Pharmat” was the result of a search for
a common denominator between the
Polish and Chechen cultures. Pharmat
struggling to obtain fire for his people
can be seen as a Chechen counterpart of
Prometheus. Another link between the
cultures is the place where Pharmat/Prometheus dies; a rock in the Caucasian
region. The aim is to raise awareness
among children that Chechnya is not as
far away as they may have thought. By
watching this performance, which joins
together acting, dancing and musical
elements, we can understand Chechnya
better as a country of rich and beautiful
culture. The biggest challenge was act-
ing, because there is actually no theatre
performance and acting traditions in
Chechnya. What is more, it was especially difficult for the young actors to recite the lines in Polish. The young actors
are very keen to learn and work hard on
this project so as to present themselves to
the audience as well as possible. Elżbieta
Rojek, the director of the play, especially
admires and appreciates the efforts made
by the 12-years old Chadiżat who, after
the girl who previously played this role
left Poland together with her parents,
took over the role of Pharmat just before
one of the performances.
Groups’ activities
The première of the performance
took place at the Primary School No. 5
in Łuków. It was the first time that the
Polish children had the opportunity of
watching and applauding the performance by their Chechen friends who recite their dialogues first in their mother
tongue and then immediately translate
them into Polish. The audience is always
inspired and roused by the Chechen
dances and the rhythm of the drums.
There are about 70 Chechen children in
the school; all of them live together with
their parents in the nearby Refugee Centre in Łuków and that is why the integration of the two cultures, aided by theatre
performances, is so vital.
The spectacle aroused a considerable
amount of interest among the youth in
the city of Łuków and also got a lot of
publicity throughout Poland. The group
received an invitation to visit the Junior
Secondary School at Raszyńska Street
in Warsaw, whose students organised
Photos taken by author of the article
a Chechen Day. All the students engaged
fully in the preparations for the performance which took place on the 15th December last year.
In December 2009 the young Chechen
artists performed in Trzebieszów (lubelskie voivodeship) and on 10 February
2010, in the Primary School No. 5 in
Świdnik. The local children were very
well prepared and very interested in the
experiences their Chechen friends could
share. After the performance, the fifth
grade students carried out an interview
for the school newspaper with the actors and Elżbieta Rojek, the director of
the play, so that other students could get
to know the culture and interests of the
young refugees.
In each of the places they visited, the
young Chechen refugees encountered
a very warm and friendly reception from
their Polish peers. Students were very
interested in the Chechen culture and
very keen to start conversations during
the break where snacks, prepared by the
inhabitants of the refugee centre, were
eaten. There was no such thing as a lack
of tolerance.
Plans for the future
Elżbieta Rojek plans to visit the city
of Niemce and the local Refugee Centre
Leonów with her theatre group in a near
future. Quite soon some Polish children
are to join the group as well. The rehearsals, with the consent of the Office for Foreigners, are to be held in one of the classrooms of the Primary School in Łuków,
and not in the local Refugee Centre as
before. Elżbieta Rojek stresses the importance of propagating tolerance through
joint work and exercises. “Young refugees
being outside the refugee centre and having contact with Polish children as a part
of the arts group is surely a very good way
of teaching tolerance”, she says.
At the moment, the group plans to
enter into cooperation with Issa Adajew,
a professor at the University of Warsaw
who is of Chechen origin. As an ethnologist and a former director of the
Ethnographic Museum in Grozny, he
owns numerous other Chechen works of
literature which could be staged by the
Chechen-Polish artistic group. Soon he
is also going to help to finish „The Story
of Pharmat”.
Elżbieta Rojek, the director, would
also like to familiarize the young Polish
audience with the fairy tale entitled „The
Rogueries of Witalis the Fox” together
with a Polish-Chechen glossary of basic
vocabulary and expressions.
The theatre helps develop integration
beyond the Polish and Chechen youth
as well. The parents of the young actors
are always very keen to help. Recently
“For the Earth” Pro-Ecological Association received a positive decision from the
Ministry of Culture regarding the subsidizing of courses that will help adults
to develop their professional skills. The
need for such courses was noted during
the preparations for the performances,
trips and meetings. Parents were very
keen to help in the preparation of the
outfits, costumes, decorations and the
traditional meals they wanted to present
to their Polish friends. The development
of these courses will help the Chechens
to find a job in the future.
The theatre is not the only initiative which aims to bring the Poles and
Chechens in Łuków closer. Apart from
“Ili”, there is also a football team consisting partly of Chechen refugees. They
have training sessions twice a week at the
local football ground in Łuków. All the
funds for starting the team, buying all
the necessary football outfits and equipment come from the UE project called
“The Youth in Action”. The project met
with the approval of the Chechen refugees because, as they attest themselves,
all the intolerance and any other barriers
disappear immediately on the football
pitch.
Translated by Adam Misiewicz
INTOLERANCE
is a crime
Karolina Bartosiak, materials Dorota Głowacka
If you are a victim of hate crime (because of your ethnicity, religion,
nationality or sexual orientation) you have the right to defend yourself!
Polish legal system includes the punishment of imprisonment and fines
for the hate and intolerance crimes.
J
uly 2007. As each year Węgajty,
a village close to Olsztyn becomes
the Village of Theatre. The international festival of alternative theatres is attended by the groups from all of
over the world. Their source of inspiration is tradition. The shows try to present
the problems and threats to the contemporary world. Abdel Mandili, a Moroccan living in Poland for 13 years, is an actor of one of the groups. After the shows
he is brutally beaten by the local bandits.
– What for? – he was asking. – That’s
because you’re dark – his oppressors replied. During the trial the offenders were
found guilty and sentenced to 2 years and
1 and a half years of imprisonment. The
punishments of prison or fines were also
the results of other hate crimes cases: of
the insulted Pakistani grocery seller and
of the two Romani women attacked by
Polish criminals.
Co mówi prawo
All of those cases are the crimes of
hate and intolerance based on race, religion, nationality, ethnicity or sexual orientation. The victims of discrimination
are protected by the Polish legal system
in case of physical or verbal violence.
Every person staying on the territory of
the Republic of Poland has the right to
protection of his dignity and personal
inviolability.
1) If someone has used physical violence against you; if you
have been beaten, pushed, and also if
someone has broken the window in your
building or cut the tires in your car – this
person will be prosecuted on the basis of
Art. 119 of the Penal Code: Any person,
who uses violence or illegal threat against
the group of people or against individual
person because of their national, ethnic,
political, religious identity or because
of their irreligiousness, shall be punished with imprisonment for a time from
3 months to 5 years. The same punishment is applicable to any person who publicly instigates to commission of crime.
2) The punishment is imposed
for the cases of hate speech and
propagation of fascist content,
like painting of swastikas on the walls,
fascist gestures or shouting fascist slogans in public: Any person, who publicly
propagates the fascist or other totalitarian
political system or instigates to hate crimes
on the basis of national, ethnic, political,
religious differences or because of someone’s irreligiousness, shall be punished
with restriction of freedom or with the imprisonment for the time up to 2 years (Art.
256 of the Penal Code).
3) If someone has offended
you verbally, if you hear the words
like “czarnuch”, “małpa”, “bambus” or
even “Żyd” (Jew) in a specific context,
or used along with the violent behavior,
e.g.: pushing, pinching, spitting, pouring
the beer over, this person is to stand trial
on the basis of Art. 257 of the Penal Code:
Any person, who publicly offends the
group of people or an individual person
because of their national, ethnic, political, religious identity or because of their
irreligiousness, or infringes their personal
inviolability because of the same reasons,
shall be punished with imprisonment for
the time up to 3 years.
Poniżej przedstawiamy odpowiedzi na pytania, które pomogą
ci w walce z uprzedzeniami:
How can you defend
yourself against hate
crimes?
As a victim you have the right to the
legal defense and help but you are not
allowed to make justice yourself. Never
react with violence in response to verbal aggression. The victim of the physical violence may defend themselves but
attacking the oppressor on the next day
in the act of revenge will be considered
a criminal offence.
What are the effective
means of defense against
verbal and other nonphysical aggression?
If you have been a victim of a crime,
immediately dial one of the emergency
numbers (997 – Police, 998 – Emergency
Ambulance Service, 986 – Municipal
Police, 112 – general alarm number for
mobile phones) and report what has happened.
How to report a crime?
A crime can be reported at the nearest police station or public prosecutor’s
office by any person who has been a victim (or a witness). The authorities have
to examine each case, unfortunately they
may later refuse to continue the investigation. If you are concerned about your
own safety you may always request that
your personal data remain secret and
thus become and anonymous witness. In
case of a catastrophic injury or material
loss you may apply for the compensation
or indemnity.
What are the rights and
obligations of the police?
The police have to respect the human
rights and human dignity. Every policeman always has to introduce himself by
giving his name and rank. Only then
is he allowed to ask for your ID and of
other present people. Although in Po-
land there is a formal obligation to carry
the ID, the refusal to show the ID (while
having it on oneself) may be considered
an offence (Art. 65 of the Petty Offences’
Code).
What are my rights in case
of detention?
The police may detain the person
when there exists a justified conviction
that this person has committed a crime
or whose identity may not be verified.
Maximum arrest may not be longer
than 48 hours (in case of handing over
the detainee to the court – the total of
72 hours). As an arrested foreigner you
have the right to contact your embassy
or consulate, as well as request the presence of a translator during the interrogation.
What are my rights in case
of a search of a person?
The search can be conducted only at
the request of the court or public prosecutor (in urgent cases the police has to
show the order of the supervisor or the
badge). The search of a person should
be done by the officer of the same sex
as the person being searched. The person about to be searched has the right
to request the presence of another person. If the orders of the police are disobeyed they have the right to resort to
physical violence (Art. 16 of the Police
Act). The police officer, however, cannot hit or punch (unless this is in self
defense).
What are the rights
of the person residing
in Poland illegally
in case of the situation
of racial discrimination?
Do not be afraid to contact the police if you have bean beaten or robbed.
Remember however that you will have
to meet all the legal consequences related to the fact of illegal residence (for
example fine or deportation). If you
have any doubts please try to seek the
legal advice. You can contact one of the
NGOs dealing with such issues, e.g. Otwarta Rzeczpospolita (Open Republic),
Nigdy Więcej (Never again). Remember
that time is of essence, report the incident right after it happened. Do not be
afraid to ask. Regardless of your legal
status in the foreign country, you always have the right to report the crime
and expect help from the law enforcement institutions (Art. 32 of the Constitution).
Translated by Mateusz Michalak
Hello everyone,
I am writing this letter to reach you
all who arrive in Poland from distant
parts of the the world. I see that you just
are or may soon find yourselves in a difficult situation. I consider the matter of
tolerance especially important for your
relationships with the Poles. As everywhere else, there are different people
living here.
I believe that pondering on what
tolerance or lack of it really means may
help you to cope more easily with difficulties you might encounter. I think
that broad-minded people are really
tolerant towards themselves. Honesty
and taking responsibility for oneself
may enable one to respect the autonomy of one’s fellow human beings, including their different views; provided
that those views do not add up to doing harm to others and increasing the
amount of suffering in the world.
Lack of genuine tolerance implies
lack of tolerance towards oneself. This
includes denying one’s naturalness and
saying no to learning about one’s true
self, the world and a fellow human being. I assume that people who can better handle a relation with someone intolerant are those who have experienced
true, sincere closeness with another being, either a human or an animal, or the
feeling of intimacy with nature. I believe
the ability to maintain such kind of relations make people calmer and in consequence more considerate and thoughtful while interacting with others.
In my opinion, being considerate may
involve understanding that a person
harmfully intolerant is lost in a way, as
if suffering from medical condition. This
comparison is not meant to be humiliating. I believe this attitude may help prevent strengthening hateful, vindictive
and malicious stances. It is also important how to set proper boundaries to
harmful behaviour. Sometimes fleeing
a threat can be the best way of acting,
another time an attempt to avoid faceoff suits you best. Some other time it
may be good to stand up to evil, firmly
oppose it; or just express your judgement of a situation.
I would like to finish my letter with
some wise man’s saying that all creatures desire happiness. I gather that not
all of them are aware of that, and not
all... are able to live in a happy way.
All the best
Dominik Jarek
Poland is now home for me,
thanks to your country
I have a family again
Dear Gazeta! I am very glad that there is a magazine which could try to help, or at least
wants to hear my story. My name is
Chatuła Bałojan and I am from Georgia.
I married a citizen of Russia; we have
three children. Having lived in Russia
for several years, I could not obtain any
documents whatsoever, because I am
a citizen of Georgia. My children, born
in Russia, automatically obtained my
surname, regardless of the fact that me
and my husband had got married. They
were bullied at school and we had problems with registering. My husband set up a small business
in Ekaterinburg. For few years, each
month we paid huge amounts of money – to the militia, or different criminal
groups – so that we could have lived in
peace and survive among them. One
day my husband was severly beaten up
and ended up with numerous injuries in
a resuscitation room.
Caring for our safety, I and my children went to Georgia. My husband accompanied us to the border. For him to
enter Georgia is against the law.
Over the last few years I tried to go to
him, but in vain, for there is no Russian
embassy in Georgia and it is not possible to obtain a visa.
We heard that people were leaving
for Poland, we agreed that this could be
our chance for a quiet life and for creating an atmosphere for our children
which is not possible neither in Georgia,
nor in Russia.
I have been in Poland for the last
eight months now; I got my hands on
your magazine accidentally. Polish law
stipulates that a refugee status shall be
granted to those who are persecuted,
who are at risk. Dear Gazeta, I want to say that my
family is my whole life. If there is any
threat of it being broken up, that means
that I am at risk. I want to rescue it by all
means, and at any price. I entreat you to publish my story.
Maybe someone will hear it and will tell
me what I should do, where to turn to
so that our stay in Poland was extended.
Poland is the country where we can really call ourselves a family.
Thank you in advance,
Chatuła Bałojan
We would like to thank
border guards from Lubań!
Hello,
We are remanded in custody by the
Sudecki Regional Border Guard Unit in
the town of Lubań. We read the Refugee.
pl Gazeta Uchodźców and we pondered
upon the questions we found on the
adverts page: “Has anyone behaved
honourably? Would you like to thank
them?”.
We agreed that the people who behaved honourably towards us were the
crew of the Sudecki Regional Border
Guard Unit in Lubań, especially our supervisor, Captain Piotr Tomczek. We are
emigrants from the Caucasus, precisely
from the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria,
and we practice the Muslim religion.
Many times we asked our supervisor for
permission to fulfil our religious obligations and do prayers, the mandatory
and voluntary ones, in a group and individually as well. Our supervisor was
understanding, listened to us carefully,
and every time gave his permission.
Maciej Herbus, the employee of the
custody suite of the Sudecki Regional
Border Guard Unit in Lubań, who is
doing his job professionally and conscientiously, also behaved honourably
towards us, as well as the border guard
officers, included Master Warrant Officer Maciej Turczyn, Master Sergeant
Arkadiusz Tumiłowicz, Sergeant Artur
Jochym, Sergeant Robert Choinowski,
and others. They treat us in a humane
way and keep trying to help us in our
difficult situation.
In these people we have seen noble
human traits of the Polish nation. So, we
would like to thank them through your
magazine.
Kind regards
the Chechens:
Zaurbek, Badrudin,
Rusłan, Lecza
2. Social aid, advisory, information
Polish Humanitarian Organisation
Refugee Counselling Center
ul. Szpitalna 5/18
00-031 Warszawa
Tel.: (022) 828 88 82
E-mail: [email protected]
www.pah.org.pl
Polish Migration Forum Foundation
www.forummigracyjne.org
“Ocalenie” Foundation
ul. Ordynacka 9/21
00-364 Warszawa
Tel.: (022) 828 50 54
E-mail: [email protected]
www.ocalenie.org.pl
The Fu Shenfu Migrant Centre
ul. Ostrobramska 98
04-118 Warszawa
Tel.: (022) 610 02 52
E-mail: [email protected]
Foundation of Education and Creativity
ul. Św. Mikołaja 9
15-419 Białystok
Tel.: (085) 742 40 90
Caritas Poland – Center of Support for Migrants
and Refugees
www.migranci.caritas.pl
Caritas of Lublin Archdiocese
ul. Prymasa Stefana Wyszyńskiego 2
20-950 Lublin;
Tel. / Fax: (081) 743 71 86 (ext. 310)
E-mail: [email protected]
Caritas of Zielonogóra and Gorzów Diocese
ul. Wojska Polskiego 140
69-100 Słubice
Tel.: (095) 737 40 06
Fax: (095) 737 40 07
Caritas of Legnica Diocese
ul. Domańskiego 12
59-900 Zgorzelec
Tel./ Fax: (075) 77 16 561
Caritas of Białystok Archdiocese
ul. Warszawska 32
15-077 Białystok
Tel. / Fax: (085) 732 55 53
Caritas – Center of Support for Migrants
and Refugees
ul. Warszawska 15
21-500 Biała Podlaska
Tel./ Fax: (083) 342 07 96
P r o v iding aid t o r e f u g e e s
Let’s think about
tolerance in our
country
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Al. Szucha 13/15, flat 17
00-580 Warszawa
Tel.: (022) 628 69 30
www.unhcr-rrbp.org/poland
International Organisation for Migration
ul. Mariensztat 8
00-302 Warszawa
Tel.: (022) 538 91 03
E-mail: [email protected]
www.iom.pl
Organisations
Letters to Refugee.pl
1. International organisations
3. Legal aid
The Halina Nieć Legal Aid Centre
ul. Krowoderska 11/7
31-141 Kraków
Tel.: (012) 633 72 23
e-mail: [email protected]
www.pomocprawna.org
The Jagiellonian University Human Rights
Centre
Al. Zygmunta Krasińskiego 18
30-101 Kraków
Tel.: (012) 427 24 80
www.opc.uj.edu.pl
The Polish Rule of Law Foundation
ul. Chopina 14/84
20-023 Lublin
Tel: / Fax: (081) 743 68 05
Tel: / Fax: (081) 532 40 69
Association for Legal Intervention
ul. Al. 3-go Maja 12 lok. 510
00-391 Warszawa
Tel.: (022) 621 51 65
www.interwencjaprawna.pl
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
ul. Zgody 11
00-018 Warszawa
Tel.: (022) 828 10 08
www.hfhrpol.waw.pl
Faculty of Law and Administration Warsaw
University
Law Advice Centre
ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28
00-325 Warszawa
Tel. / Fax: (022) 552 43 18
Tel.: (022) 552 08 11
e-mail: [email protected]
www.klinika.wpia.uw.edu.p
PAH’s competition:
Refugees in and
out of template
Polish Humanitarian Action organized a drawing competition entitled “Refugees in and out of template” in order to encourage middle and high school
students and their teachers to participate in the celebration of International
Refugee Day and to familiarize them with the issues regarding refugees, migration and multi-culture. Drawings could be sent in two categories: works
in stencils, such as slogans and graphics with or without text, and non-stencil works that would present refugees, migration and multi-culture with humor.
The jury included: Marek Raczkowski (a cartoonist who collaborates with
the weekly Przekrój as a leading voice in the evaluation of non-stencil
works), Dariusz Paczkowski (an artist who has been working in stencils,
graffiti and social street art as a leading voice in the evaluation of work in
stencils), Wvarwzeky Weź Kombo Bouetoumoussa (a representative of the
refugee community in Poland) and the employees of The Aid Center for
Refugees of The Polish Humanitarian Action: Ms Agnieszka Kunicka, Director, Beata Olszewska and Bogna Różyczka. The jury picked Marcin Kopiński
from the Queen Jadwiga Middle School in Wolobórz in the category of nonstencil works for the main award and decided to honor Piotr Kulesza from
the Cyprian Kamil Norwid High School No 24 in Warsaw for his drawing in
the category “Work in Stencils.”
The winner of the main award will receive book prizes, arts materials and
some entry tickets to the Refugee Film Festival which will take place between June 18th and 23rd in Warsaw, Toruń, Wrocław and Kraków.
The honorable mention will receive book prizes and art materials.
We congratulate the winners!
Thank you to all students and schools that participated in the competition.
Beata OLSZEWSKA
Translated by Marzena Szewczyk
The jury members Marek
Raczkowski
(left) and
Dariusz Paczkowski
fot: Katarzyna Pogorzelska
The winning drawing of Marcin Kopiński from the Middle School in Wolbórz
Address of the editorial office:
ul. Szpitalna 5/3, 00-031 Warszawa
www.refugee.pl
[email protected]
Publisher:
Polish Humanitarian Organisation
Honorable mention: Piotr Kulesza, High School No 24 in Warsaw
Head of the editorial office: Adrian Kondaszewski
Proofreading: Olga Almert-Piotrowska
Authors: Dorota Głowacka, Zofia Stopa, Karolina Bartosiak,
Lidia Świderska, Magdalena Milewska, Marta Zdzieborska,
Przemysław Sławiński, Monika Klimkiewicz-Sydor, Beata
Olszewska, Dominik J. Świt, Suzi Andreis, Dawid Kornytowski,
Ilona Sójka, Paulina Kość, Marzena Zera
Graphic design: Teresa Oleszczuk
Russian translation: Piotr Krygiel, Joanna Włodarczyk (coordinators)
English translation: Marta Al Amin (coordinator),
Felix Dyer (proofreading)
Not-signed photographs come from wikicommons.
The project is co-financed from the European
Refugee Fund and the state budget.
The exclusive responsibility for all paragraphs or publications published in the paper rests with
their authors. The European Commission shall not be responsible for the method in which the
information made available is used.
You are also invited to visit our portal devoted to refugees and migrants –
www.refugee.pl