Two events directed against the Ukrainian minority in Poland took place at the end of October. They caused alarm within the Ukrainian community. The expert Dorota Hall (right) from the Helsinki Foundation, says “that the situation is serious and arouses concern”. However, she awaitens the response from the authorities before passing judgments regarding the deterioration of the situation surrounding the Ukrainian minority in Poland. (03-NOV-06)

Written by Marta Lempicka/HRH Warsaw
Source: http://www.zup.ukraina.com.pl

The first event took place on the night between 27th and 28th October and consisted in the desecration of the monument of Taras Shevchenko located near the dormitory of the Taras Shevchenko School Complex in Bia³y Bor in the Zachodniopomorskie Voivodship. The second one was the deliberate arson of the School Complex with the Ukrainian Language of Instruction in Bartoszyce in the Warminsko-Mazurskie Viovodship on the night between 29th and 30th October.

The Union of Ukrainians in Poland – the largest organization bringing together the Ukrainian minority – submitted a request to the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration, Mr. Ludwik Dorn, regarding intervention and personal supervision over these cases. In a press announcement the Union informs that this is “the first case of aggression directed against Ukrainians in Poland since 1995 and the deliberate arson of the office of the Union of Ukrainians in Przemysl and the dormitory, in which the participants of the Festival of Ukrainian Culture stayed overnight”.            

Dorota Hall (picture), an expert from the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights dealing with national and ethnic minorities, says ‘that the situation is serious and arouses concern. However, it is necessary to wait for a response from the authorities before passing judgments regarding the deterioration of the situation surrounding the Ukrainian minority in Poland’.    
 
Ukrainians constitute one of the most numerous national minorities in Poland, and according to the general census in 2002 their population amounts to 31 thousand.