In Przemyl, non-white refugees are subjected to violence and racist abuse, while police warn of false claims of "migrants committing crimes."
After Polish nationalists attacked and abused groups of African, South Asian, and Middle Eastern migrants who had crossed the border last night, police in Poland have warned that phony claims of violent crimes perpetrated by those fleeing Ukraine are circulating on social media.
Black-clad assailants targeted groups of non-white migrants, primarily students, who had just arrived in Poland at Przemyl train station from places in Ukraine following the Russian invasion. Three Indians were allegedly beaten up by a group of five males, one of them was hospitalized, according to the police.
"Around 7 p.m., these individuals began shouting and yelling at groups of African and Middle Eastern refugees who were gathered outside the railway station," two Polish journalists from the news agency OKO told the Guardian. "'Go back to the railway station!' they screamed at them. 'Return to your homeland.'
After groups of guys arrived yelling "Przemyl always Polish," police interfered, and riot officers were dispatched.
Sara, a 22-year-old Egyptian student in Ukraine, claimed, "I was with my friends, buying something to eat outside." "These men arrived and began harassing a group of Nigerian males. They wouldn't let an African boy into a restaurant to dine. 'Go back,' they screamed as they approached us.
Following the event, authorities in Poland warned that far-right organizations are already distributing fake information about supposed crimes committed by migrants fleeing the crisis in Ukraine from Africa and the Middle East.
"In the media, there is incorrect information that severe crimes have occurred in Przemyl and the border: burglaries, assaults, and rape," Przemyl police wrote on Twitter. This isn't the case. The number of offenses reported by the police has not grown as a result of the border situation. #StopFakeNews.”