Poland is rapidly transitioning to a destination rather than a source of immigration, according to new data released by Eurostat last week.
Poland issued 635,000 first-time residency permits to third country nationals in 2018, which is the largest number in the EU and accounts for some 20% of all permits issued last year. Germany came in second with 544,000, followed by the United Kingdom and France.
About half (54%) of all first-time residence permits issued in the EU in 2018 were received by citizens of ten countries: Ukraine, China, India, Syria, Belarus, Morocco, the United States, Brazil, Turkey, and Russia. Of these groups, Poland hosts the vast majority of Ukrainians (78% or 527,000) along with almost all applicants (92% or 138,000) from Belarus.
Reasons for granting residence permits vary by nationality; Ukrainians requested permits predominantly on the basis of employment (65 percent of all issued to Ukrainians in 2018), while the Chinese requested them for education (67 percent), and Moroccans (61 percent) for family reunification. Poland was at the forefront for employment-related permits, accounting for 37% of all work permits issued in the EU last year.
Source: PAP
Last Thursday the European Parliament awarded jailed Uighur human rights activist Ilham Tohti the prestigious Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought.
Tohti is currently serving a life sentence in China on charges related to separatism and stoking ethnic tensions. The former professor of economics at Beijing University was a tireless advocate for the rights of the Uighur minority in China, and had been working for over 20 years to promote dialogue and understanding between the Uighurs and the Chinese.
Uighurs, who are a separate ethnic group and Muslim minority in China, have been systematically repressed by the Chinese government, including the use of arbitrary detention and forced reeducation camps.
Through his website Uyghur Online, Tohti regularly criticized the exclusion of the Uighur population in China and attempted to raise awareness of the status and treatment of the Uighur community in Chinese society. He was branded separatist by the Chinese authorities and later sentenced to life imprisonment in 2014 after a two-day show trial.
In awarding the EP’s top human rights prize, European Parliament head David Sassoli “strongly urge[d] the Chinese government to release Tohti” and called for “the respect of minority rights in China.” Tohti received the Council of Europe’s Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize earlier this month and was also on the list of candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize this year.
Source: PAP
In commemoration of the heroic Polish postal workers who fought against the German army at the start of WWII, the short documentary film „Defender of the Post” will be screened today at the European Solidarity Center.
Damien Wenta, a Gdańsk native and graduate of the prestigious Łódź film school, created the 77-minute documentary using extensive archival research and cutting-edge animation techniques. The film features interviews with families of the postal workers and historians of the event alongside archival photos and recordings that have been “brought to life” with modern technology.
The roughly 15-hour siege of the Polish government outpost on September 1, 1939 pitted a few dozen Polish postal workers against nearly 200 German SS troops. Those who were not killed in the fighting were tried and later executed by firing squad on October 5, 1939 for their “partisan activities. The judgement was found illegal and called court-sanctioned murder by a Germany court aslso calling is a gross miscarriage of justice as late as 1998
The film screens today at 2pm in the auditorium of the European Solidarity Center and admission is free.
More details https://ecs.gda.pl/title,pid,9,oid,61,cid,1573.html
Residents of Gdańsk will soon have an opportunity for world-class dining as chef Paco Perez, owner of 6 Michelin stars, prepares to open a new restaurant in Gdańsk.
In an interview with Radio Gdańsk last week, the world-renowned Catalan chef praised the region’s “fantastic culture,” including a burgeoning gastronomic scene which is “impossible not to notice.” Gdańsk is also “a place where the sea meets the forest and the mountains,” providing a rich source of forest and spring vegetables.
When asked about the menu on offer, Perez noted his inability to “explain the taste through a microphone,” suggesting that “the restaurant will offer collage of possibilities” drawing from Pomeranian and Mediterranean cuisine. “There is such a beautiful word ‘compartir’ in Spanish, meaning to share,” Perez explained in the interview “…our philosophy is…share with others what we can create.”
“Arco by Paco Perez” will be located on the 33rd floor of the Olivia Star skyscraper, with a grand opening scheduled for November 16th.
The Weather
Today will be partly cloudy and cooler than yesterday, with any scattered showers dying out by later this afternoon. Expect a strong breeze. Highs will reach around 11 degrees Celsius or 53 degrees Fahrenheit, with temperatures dropping overnight to single digits Celsius, mid-40s Fahrenheit, and an increasing chance of rain showers later in the day.
RGEN/EP
