Anti-racism rally in Warsaw

The organisers of the rally, which marched under the "Solidarity instead of nationalism - together across borders" slogan, said that as many as 2,000 people attended it on Sunday.

The people carried signs which read "Warsaw free from racism", "Stop scaring refugees, solidarity is our weapon”.

The march in Warsaw was attended by some 2,000 protesters. Photo: PAP/Bartłomiej Zborowski

“Seventy-seven years ago hundreds of thousands of Jews were deported to the death camp of Treblinka from this very spot," Amnesty International's Agata Kwiatoń told reporters at the historic Umschlagplatz in Warsaw.

"They were murdered because of their religion and origin. Others were threatened with exile,” she added.

Controversial decisions

Poland has agreed to take on 7,000 refugees as part of an EU programme to relocate hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers across the bloc, and the decision has become a key political and social issue in the country, with right-wing nationalists saying that “Poland should remain Polish”.

At least one person from the Arab world was subject to a racist attack in Poland over the past days. The student from Syria was hospitalised after he was severely beaten in the centre of Poznań, west central Poland. The news was applauded by nationalist groupings over social media.

Such groupings will be a central part of the upcoming National Independence Day March in Warsaw. (rg/di)

Source: PAP