Key facts
- A poll commissioned by Rzeczpospolita shows 67.2% of Poles support deporting unemployed Ukrainian men aged 25-60.
- The proposal is part of the Law and Justice party's (PiS) migration policy ahead of upcoming elections.
- Over 52% of voters for the current ruling coalition also favored the deportation proposal.
- Poland's Interior Ministry stated that 95% of Ukrainian men in Poland are legally employed.
- The Polish government officially rejected the deportation proposal.
- Poland is home to approximately 2 million Ukrainian refugees.
A poll commissioned by the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita indicates that a significant majority of Poles support the idea of deporting military-aged Ukrainian men who are not legally employed in the country. The survey, conducted by the IBRiS Institute for Market and Social Research, revealed that 67.2% of respondents favored such a measure, while 23.4% opposed it. The proposal has been championed by the opposition Law and Justice party (PiS) as part of its hardline migration policy ahead of next year's parliamentary elections. PiS deputy leader Tobiasz Bochenski suggested that if the party gains power, it would deport unemployed Ukrainian men aged 25-60, urging them to "fight for their homeland."
Interestingly, the proposal found considerable support across the political spectrum. While 79% of positive responses came from those identifying as right-wing, over 52% of voters for the current liberal-left ruling coalition also expressed support for deporting unemployed Ukrainians, with 39% opposing it. The survey was conducted on August 7-8 with over 1,000 respondents.
However, the Polish government officially rejected the deportation proposal on August 9, labeling it "pure absurdity and populism." The Interior Ministry clarified that approximately 95% of Ukrainian men residing in Poland are legally employed. Official data indicates that Poland is home to nearly 2 million Ukrainians, with about half having been granted temporary protection as refugees.
The poll's findings emerge amid a reported rise in aggression against Ukrainians in Poland, with hate crime reports increasing by 30% in the first half of 2026 compared to the previous year. These rising tensions are partly attributed to a diplomatic dispute between Kyiv and Warsaw concerning the naming of a Ukrainian military unit after the World War II-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a group remembered in Poland for its role in the Volyn massacres.