Government shelves new immigration laws

The government will not proceed with a decree simplifying the immigration of foreign labourers to Poland, the government spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Piotr Mueller told the Polsat News channel on Tuesday that the decision to drop the laws was a reaction to the opposition's "false stories" about them.

The new immigration procedures, which were to facilitate the employment in Poland of foreign labour from, among other places, several Middle Eastern countries, have been strongly criticised by Poland's biggest opposition party, Civic Platform (PO), who called the idea "hypocritical" in view of the government's reluctance to accept Middle Eastern migrants under an EU relocation plan.

Mueller said the opposition had "blown up" the issue, and explained that the new regulations were "technical." "Civic Platform tried to blow up (the issue - PAP)... but this is a technical decree. It probably won't be proceeded for the simple reason that false stories have been created around it by Civic Platform," Mueller said.

If passed, the new regulations would have enabled fast-tracking of working visa issuance to workers from 21 Asian and African countries, including India, Iran, Kuwait, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.