“Welcome to Poland! – supporting integration of third countries’ citizens through legal aid and counteracting discrimination”

On 1 July 2009 the Halina Nieć Legal Aid Center has launched realization of a project “Welcome to Poland! – supporting integration of third countries’ citizens through legal aid and counteracting discrimination”, co–financed from European Fund for the benefit of Third Countries’ citizens. The project, concentrated on supporting process of integration of third countries’ citizens, especially including aliens newly arrived to Poland, is intended to counteract informational repudiation and access limitations to legal guidance amongst third countries’ citizens, what would allow to improve their chance of successful integration and to scale down the domains of discrimination in Poland.

Aliens can get legal assistance as regards procedures required by law and formalities due to acquisition of a long-term residence permission as well as formalities connected with taking up a job or education. The assistance consists in providing informational and legal aid, including legal representation. Legal aid and neutral information also have to serve counteracting discrimination in employment of third countries’ citizens or in access to other benefits, especially those of public nature (e.g. health care, children education).

All information and legal aid, are available under telephone number: 012 633 72 23, e-mail:  porady@pomocprawna.org and at  11/7 Krowoderska Street in Krakow .

At the same time, within the territory of 4 voivodships: Malopolanian (małopolskie), Subcarpathian (podkarpackie), Podlasian (podlaskie) and Lublin (lubelskie), information campaign entitled “Welcome to Poland!” will be carried out. Additionally some its elements will have statewide character – through campaign on-line. The information campaign will be realized, in the first place, through outside advertisements in the biggest cities: at railway stations, voivodship offices, labor offices, public registry offices. Extra, in modified shape, information campaign will be carried out at education offices in order to reach schools, where children of third countries’ citizens attend, and at universities both public or private in order to reach students from third countries.

The purpose of this campaign is to inform about the possibility to benefit from free of charge informational and legal support within procedures connected with acquisition of a long-term residence permission and within formalities regarding employment and labor law (including discrimination at work), education, health care etc. Cooperation with interested universities will also be carried out in order to enable students from third countries to benefit from free of charge legal aid. The campaign will inform about website, where the most important information, concerning above mentioned procedures and other issues important for integration, will be gathered. What is more, through that website aliens will have the possibility to contact a lawyer, to download package of information or to register on-line in order to receive quarterly newsletter.

Second fundamental scope of the project concerns formation of consultation group for third countries’ citizens, pointed at exchange of information between interested parties, including different national groups and NGO’s. The consultation process would also include governmental part represented by the Office for Foreigners. Within he framework of the project 2 one-week seminars will be arranged, where representatives of the largest groups from the third countries in Poland will be invited to take part in. During the initial seminar opening the consultation process, working group, composed of representatives from different national groups, will be formed, which would hold monthly working meetings of consultation character. During these meetings different thematic issues will be discussed, which constitute problematic area or even discriminative for third countries’ citizens – integration, access  to labor market, discrimination at work, access to education, access to health care, social coexistence, symptoms of racism, xenophobia and other issues. The working meetings will be held in the Legal Aid Center’s office, additionally a discussion group working through e-mail will be formed. The group will work out, on a current basis, the main problematic points which will be communicated to the Head of the Office for Foreigners and to the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection. The purpose of the group will also be better information of third countries’ citizens about possibilities of support in the process of integration from the part of NGO’s in Poland and about their particular rights. Mutual work of different national groups will bring better visibility of this categories of people in the face of the authorities and indirectly – better effectiveness of the admission procedures through popularizing information about these procedures and formalities and about available legal counseling provided by the Legal Aid Center.

At the same time, the Legal Aid Center’s team will monitor, on a current basis, discrimination incidents. Monitoring will cover third countries’ citizens coming to the Center for information or legal aid. If discrimination incidents are identified, legal intervention will be carried out, and all incidents will be recorded and included in the final report, which will be publicized on the website and send to the Office for Foreigners and to the Commissioner for civil Rights Protection.