For several days, the eyes of the whole world have been focused on Ukraine, which has fallen victim to brutal and unreasonable aggression.

– More than one million citizens of Ukraine have already come to Poland in search of a safe shelter from the war, for fear of the loss of health and life. The Polish State and its citizens in practice showed the world our Polish solidarity – heroism, determination and devotion in providing help. Today, the priority is the safety of residents coming to Poland from Ukraine, to provide them with shelter and to satisfy their basic life needs – says the Minister of Family and Social Policy, Marlena Maląg.

Long-term and comprehensive support

However, the Head of the Ministry of Family stresses that soon this support will also be necessary in other areas. First of all, the point is to ensure access to the labour market for people legally staying in the territory of the Republic of Poland after 24 February, who left the territory of Ukraine in connection with the hostilities taking place there. It is also necessary to provide children with access to education and care, to ensure the broadly understood integration support.

– Many citizens of Ukraine seeking refuge in Poland in the face of the military conflict will most likely stay with us, so it is important to support them in a new environment. That is why the Centres for the Integration of Foreigners, newly opened thanks to the initiative of the Ministry of Family and Social Policy, are such an important project which is all the more accurate today – highlights Minister Marlena Maląg.

The Centre for the Integration of Foreigners in Kalisz is one of five institutions in Wielkopolska. In the coming days, the remaining Centres will officially start their activities in Leszno, Konin, Poznań and Piła.

– They are very happy that Wielkopolska has effectively used the project initiated by our Ministry, by taking up the challenges and launching the Centres for the Integration of Foreigners as part of the pilot project, thus proving that it is one of the first regions to comprehensively support foreigners – adds the Minister.

The role of the Centres for the Integration of Foreigners

The Centre for the Integration of Foreigners is to be a comprehensive form of integration assistance for foreigners, assuming the holistic support for migrants in their local environment. Its functioning is based on the so-called „one-stop shop” concept and consists in concentrating various services addressed to foreigners in one place.

The project will offer support to the widest possible group of foreigners staying in the Kalisz subregion, including, inter alia, information, psychological and legal support, as well as language and adaptation courses.

The Centre for the Integration of Foreigners in Kalisz is also to be a place supporting the integration and cultural exchange, opening the local community to contact with people coming from outside Poland, and, on the other hand, giving foreigners the opportunity to learn and understand Polish culture and local specificities and conditions.

– It is extremely important that foreigners, people in need of support in various aspects of professional life, but also for the purpose of social integration, have an opportunity to have this support, all the necessary information, available to them in the possibly most comprehensive manner, and thus in one place – points out the Minister of Family, Marlena Maląg.

Building structures for the integration of foreigners in Poland

The Centres for the Integration of Foreigners are established under the project entitled „Building structures for the integration of foreigners in Poland” as part of the pilot project. The Ministry of Family and Social Policy took the initiative to implement the Centres for the Integration of Foreigners, obtaining funds in the amount of PLN 6 million from the Ministry of the Interior and Administration under the National Programme of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund. An additional amount of PLN 2 million is the financing as part of financial engineering from the state budget. The total value is PLN 8 million.

The Ministry of Family and Social Policy is implementing the project together with partners selected in a competition – in Wielkopolska with the Regional Centre for Social Policy in Poznań.

Developing the best solutions

As part of the project, such activities as, inter alia, organising Polish language courses, adaptation courses, legal assistance, psychological support, assistance on the part of intercultural advisors, organising of day camps for families with children and others will be implemented.

– The creation of the Centre for the Integration of Foreigners, in addition to the system support for foreigners adjusted to the modern times and needs, will enable the integration of foreigners with our country in this regard – emphasises the Minister of Family and Social Policy, Marlena Maląg.

National Network for the Integration of Foreigners

A very important element of the whole project is the National Network for the Integration of Foreigners, which is aimed at networking the environment of institutions, organisations and offices involved in the issues of integration of foreigners in Poland.

The idea behind the National Network for the Integration of Foreigners is also to strengthen and coordinate activities in the field of integration of foreigners in Poland. This will give an opportunity to create a nationwide forum for discussion and sharing experiences.