‘Africa Days’ in Eastern Poland

The Great Replacement proceeds unimpeded.

Across much of Central and Eastern Europe, locals exhibit a certain superiority toward their Western European neighbors in terms of immigration. It won’t happen here, it can’t happen here, goes the conventional wisdom. In Poland, this mindset increasingly conflicts with an uncomfortable reality: against the will of most Poles, Poland is becoming an immigration country. (RELATED: Is Poland the Next Victim of Mass Migration?) The last weekend of May witnessed “Africa Days” in Lublin, Poland’s eighth-largest city, just over 50 miles from the Ukrainian border. The setting wasn’t incidental: Lublin has rapidly become a magnet for African migration. Zimbabweans have become the city’s third-largest foreign group, after Ukrainians and Belarusians. According to a Zimbabwean government minister, over 13,000 Zimbabweans now live in Poland, with many based in Lublin. Not only has an African community become established in Poland, but it can now muster a show of force like “Africa Days.” As a half-century of European history demonstrates, many will have no intention of leaving. The event drew national attention in part due to the comments of Wiktoria Herun, a Ukrainian woman working in the Lublin City Hall, in a recent podcast interview. Herun attributes the size of the migrant community to the “Study in Lublin” program launched in 2011 to encourage foreign students to enroll in the city’s universities. “The last six years have … been dominated by Africa — Zimbabwe, Nigeria, South Africa — but recently also Thailand and Saudi Arabia,” said Herun. “In the past, students would come alone; now, students from countries like Africa, India, and Bangladesh arrive with their families — with their husbands, wives, and children.” As a half-century of European history demonstrates, many will have no intention of leaving. According to some estimates, there are as many Africans in Lublin today as there were in the entire country a decade ago. “Residents of Lublin, what is wrong with you, tha...