Contribution short abstract:

Based on my own ethnographic research in local border communities, I will show the determinants of resentment towards refugees who appear on the Polish-Belarusian border from 2021. This shows that the idea of common humanity does not address the important needs and fears of conservative communities.

Contribution long abstract:

I will present the results of my preliminary, exploratory field research in north-eastern Poland in 2022-2023 (interviews with residents of border areas, who have partly witnessed the arrival of refugees from Africa /Middle East at the Polish-Belarusian border. My interviewees mostly expressed attitudes that were hostile towards migrants and unfriendly towards activists bringing humanitarian aid.

The conflict in the public debate (and media) polarises the progressive milieus from which the activists come and the conservative milieus to which a significant proportion of Podlasian residents belong. The strong political polarisation leads to disbelief in the suffering of the refugees and the treatment of the issue as instrument of political struggle.

I observed mixing of local and global perspectives - when activists call for empathy with individuals, inhabitants talk about the threat of crime on a national and pan-European scale. Systems of privilege are also mixed. Although refugees belong to a globally unprivileged minority, in specific local arrangements and situations, the social status of newcomers and hosts is not far apart (peripherality of the Podlasie region). My interviewees felt that newcomers were resourceful (high fees for smugglers) and successful in achieving their goals, and therefore not 'weak victims' in need of help.

Loyalty to the local community (including Border Guards) lead to 'defence' of a territory treated as one's own. The idea of common humanity is generally supported on the basis of Catholic ethics (helping those in need), but de facto does not address the important needs and fears of conservative communities.