DISINFO: The predominant majority of the Ukrainian labour migrants in Poland are employed illegally
SUMMARY
Both Poland and Ukraine collect statistics on the number of Ukrainian labour migrants in Poland, but the official data does not give a real picture. The predominant majority of such migrants are employed illegally.
RESPONSE
This message is a part of the Kremlin’s narrative on the increasing problems with the Ukrainian labour migrants in the EU countries. The message that “the predominant part of the Ukrainian migrants to Poland are employed illegally” comes from a misunderstanding of mechanisms of employment of foreigners in this country. Besides the traditional work permits, there is another much larger channel of employment of the Ukrainians in Poland. The major part of the Ukrainian labour migrants in Poland are employed through the procedure of the so-called “Declarations of intent to employ”, which are issued to the Ukrainian workers by the Polish employers. This mechanism is entirely legal – it was established by the Polish authorities in order to facilitate the employment of foreign labour migrants. For example, in 2017, the Polish employers issued 1.7 million of “Declarations of intent to employ” to the Ukrainians. At the same time, the number of work permits issued to the Ukrainians in 2017 was 192.000. The number of Ukrainians staying in Poland for a shorter or longer time varies between 1-1.5 million people a year (most of them are “circulating” migrants, who stay in Poland for several months a year). According to the studies of the Polish National Bank, the approximate number of Ukrainians staying in Poland at any given time throughout 2017 was about 900.000. Read other disinformation messages concerning the Ukrainian labour migrants - Europe wants to take away the visa-free regime from Ukraine, Large numbers of Ukrainians seeking asylum in Europe and Poland is treating Ukrainian migrants like slaves.