At the end of 2023, Poland had nine reception centres which altogether provided 1,479 places. As of 31 December 2023, 656 (compared to 732 in 2022) asylum seekers were residing in the centres. Another 3,493 (compared to 2,963 in 2022) asylum seekers were receiving assistance outside the centres.[1]
In 2023, the centres in Podkowa Leśna-Dębak and Biała Podlaska served as the first reception, where asylum seekers were directed after applying for asylum in order to register and carry out medical examinations. The remaining seven centres were accommodation centres (Białystok, Czerwony Bór, Bezwola, Łuków, Grupa, Kolonia-Horbów and Linin).[2]
In 2023, there was no problem of overcrowding in these centres. As of 31 December 2023, the highest occupancy rate was 71.67% in Białystok and the lowest was in Biała Podlaska – 17.73% (first reception) and Czerwony Bór – 37.22% (accommodation centre).[3]
Since March 2022, the reception centres for asylum seekers have been serving also as a place for accommodation for some temporary protection beneficiaries. However, only 10 temporary protection beneficiaries benefited from this accommodation in 2023.[4]
Centres are located in different parts of Poland. One is located in a city (Białystok), but most of them are situated in the countryside. Bezwola, Dębak, Grupa and Linin are in the woods. These centres are therefore not easily accessible.
Spatial exclusion as a result of the present location of the centres is considered the main problem by some NGOs.[5] Isolation of the centres limits contact with Polish citizens and Polish institutions, including NGOs. It affects the effectiveness of the integration process.[6] In addition, the reception centres are located in areas with a high level of poverty, which hampers the asylum seeker’s access to the labour market.[7] Moreover, the isolation of asylum seekers from society negatively affects their psychological state.[8]
[1] Information provided by the Office for Foreigners, 3 February 2023 and 16 February 2024. See also ECRE, ‘Seeking Refuge in Poland: A Fact-Finding Report on Access to Asylum and Reception Conditions for Asylum Seekers’, April 2023, available here: https://bit.ly/41hGgdJ, 22-23.
[2] Information provided by the Office for Foreigners, 16 February 2024.
[3] Information provided by the Office for Foreigners, 16 February 2024.
[4] Information provided by the Office for Foreigners, 16 February 2024. For more, see Temporary protection Annex: Housing.
[5] See W. Goszczyński, R. Baczyński-Sielaczek, J. Suchomska, J. Stankowska and M. Wróblewski. ‘Lokalne systemy integracji uchodźców – badania’ in Fundacja EMIC and Pracownia Zrównoważonego Rozwoju, Wielogłos. Integracja uchodźców w polskich gminach, 2016, available (in Polish) at: https://bit.ly/31uBLiE, 58. See also M. Baran-Kurasiewicz, ‘Uzyskanie statusu uchodźcy i sytuacja uchodźców w Polsce’, Polityka i Społeczeństwo 3(19)/2021, 17.
[6] PFM, ‘Czas w ośrodku to czas wykluczenia’, 2023, available in Polish at: https://bit.ly/3TZX1tK ; Institute of Public Affairs, ‘Analiza przygotowania lokalnych instytucji do przyjęcia uchodźców z programu relokacji i przesiedleń. Raport końcowy z badań fokusowych’, 2016, available (in Polish) at: http://bit.ly/2GBfKr4, 12-14; Lukasiewicz, K., ‘Exile to Poverty: Policies and Poverty Among Refugees in Poland’, International Migration Vol. 55 (6) 2017, 65.
[7] Lukasiewicz, K., ‘Exile to Poverty: Policies and Poverty Among Refugees in Poland’, International Migration Vol. 55 (6) 2017, 61.
[8] A. Garbolińska, ‘Rodzaje ośrodków dla osób w procedurze uchodźczej w Polsce’, 2022, available in Polish at: https://bit.ly/3ziK8zR.