Self-declared “citizen patrols” – some of them hundreds strong – have gathered on the Polish side of the border with Germany to oppose returns of migrants whom the German authorities have found to have entered illegally from Poland.
Over the last two years, Germany has sent back thousands of such migrants, prompting a growing backlash in Poland. The practice has been criticised by the Polish government, which is in turn facing accusations from the right-wing opposition that it is taking too little action in response.
On Saturday, a group of around 200 residents of Szczecin, a Polish city near the German border, and the surrounding area blocked a road by walking back and forth across a pedestrian crossing.
“We walk to the border post and back. Just so that the German police don’t bring us migrants,” one participant told local broadcaster Radio Szczecin.
“I would like to defend Poland’s borders,” said another. “It is not our place to do this, but it is a signal to the government.”
Over the previous days, groups of football fans from the nearby towns of Police and Świnoujście had also organised similar “citizen patrols” on the German border, displaying banners saying “Stop illegal immigration”. On Friday, over 300 people gathered there, reports the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
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