Anti‑immigration protests have taken place in dozens of towns and cities across Poland.
Most demonstrations attracted several hundred people or fewer on Saturday - but police estimated that about 3,000 took part in the largest rally in the southern city of Katowice.
The protests were organised by far-right political group Konfederacja, and another nationalist organisation.
Politicians from Konfederacja and the opposition Law and Justice party have been warning about a flood of illegal migration in Poland - but official figures do not support their claims.
“Without closing Poland to illegal immigration, without starting deportation campaigns, without abandoning political correctness... security will gradually deteriorate,” Konfederacja co-chairman Krzysztof Bosak told the crowd in the eastern city of Bialystok.
A minute’s silence was held at some gatherings in memory of a 24-year-old Polish woman murdered in the central city of Torun.
In the capital Warsaw, rival rallies took place just metres away. There were no reports of violence.
Police have since arrested a Venezuelan man in the case.
Right-wing politicians claim Poland is in danger of being flooded by illegal migrants.
Immigration has increased over the last decade - but official figures show that migration is lower so far this year than in previous years.
Earlier this month, Poland introduced checks on its borders with Germany and Lithuania after Berlin began turning away asylum seekers. Germany introduced its own controls on the Polish and Czech borders in 2023.
In March, Poland temporarily suspended the right of migrants arriving in the country via its border with Belarus to apply for asylum.
Source: BBC
- Agencies
