Prosecutors and Poland’s border guard have dismantled a group working in a state labor office that they claim corruptly helped more than 12,000 immigrants, including those from high-risk Asian and African nations, enter Poland and the European Schengen Area.
According to border guard spokeswoman Dagmara Bielec, two of the three individuals arrested thus far were “high-ranking officials” who were employed at a district labor office in Masovia, Poland’s most populous province, which is home to the country’s capital, Warsaw.
Prosecutors in the Masovian town of Grójec have accused the three of organizing illegal border crossings, participating in an organized criminal group, abusing their authority, and neglecting their responsibilities.
Because of their actions, nearly 12,500 foreigners from Asia, Africa, and Ukraine were able to obtain the documents they needed to apply for and receive visas that allowed them to enter Poland and other countries in Schengen, which is an area of free movement that encompasses most of Europe, between 2018 and 2024.
Investigators claim that after breaking up a similar gang that was active at the same institution the previous year, they were able to uncover the group’s activities. Ten people, including a labor office employee, were detained as a result of that earlier investigation and are currently awaiting trial.
The current Polish government, which came to power in December 2023, has accused the previous Law and Justice (PiS) administration of allowing hundreds of thousands of immigrants to enter Poland illegally through the visa system due to incompetence and abuses.
