My spine is iron. Conversation with Janina Ochojska

– You do not bite your tongue and about actions on the border with Belarus say that this could be “genocide” for which “and the Belarusian government and the Polish government” are responsible.

– I'm telling you the truth!

– A wave of criticism fell on you for criticizing Border defender officers. Why is your Polish uniform “disgusting”?

– The facts are that due to push-backs (illegal return of migrants to the country from which they crossed the border, without giving them the chance to apply for exile position and asylum, without taking into account their individual situation – ed.) only 34 people lost their lives in Poland. They were primarily young people, like a 30-year-old doctor from Yemen found dead on January 7 in the Białowieża Forest. It's a disgrace! Shame on all of us!

– Euro MP Patryk Jaka demands that you be punished for – as he writes in social media – sending letters to Euro MPs accusing Poland, for alleged harassment of refugees on the border with Belarus.

– I will not worry about Patrick Jaka, due to the fact that before I went to the European Parliament, erstwhile Sarajevo, Bosnia, Chechnya, Albania. I know what I was doing there, why I went there, and now I know what I'm saying. I'm expected to be judged due to the fact that I'm defaming Poland. There you go! Minister Maciej Wąsik was expected to mention the case to the D.A.'s office, but he didn't. They besides say about Donald Tusk that he stole, that he was a criminal, that he wanted to destruct Poland. It's been so many years and Donald Tusk could be convicted many times, and he's inactive walking free. Then why isn't he in jail? due to the fact that he didn't commit any crime.

– You've been dealing with refugees since 1993. The Polish authorities aid these Ukrainians, and those on the border with Belarus are being pushed into the hands of the government of Alexander Lukashenko. What is it? How can that be explained to average people?

– Autocratic governments request an enemy. erstwhile there is an enemy, it means that we are in danger, and then we unite with those who have power. The question, however, is whether a exile has committed an act in Poland that would restrict our freedom or endanger our security? I don't think...

– The Polish-Belarusian border has tried to exceed about 5 1000 people since November 2021. Most Poles were in favour of introducing a state of emergency on the border, they feared the government of Alexander Lukashenko. Is there anything to be afraid of?

– Of course not, but it's a political game. Is this 5,000 people in a 40-million-dollar country a number that could endanger our safety and our well-being?

– The fact that Poles approach refugees untrustworthyly, is nothing new?

- It's true. erstwhile it was a small better, erstwhile a small worse, but Poland's migration policy changed dramatically after 2015, erstwhile the Law and Justice came to power. Prior to that, refugees had been tolerated to then build a fear-filled communicative by which the PiS won the election. This communicative later utilized to introduce a state of emergency on the Polish-Belarusian border. The Law and Justice government besides received approval to push migrants to the wires and yet build a wall.