Ukrainian school students assaulted in Poland: consul in Gdańsk calls for fair investigation

Ukraine's Consul General in Gdańsk, Oleksandr Plodystyi, has responded to reports that Ukrainian students at the Słupsk Construction School were assaulted and a local teacher made xenophobic comments about Ukrainian children during lessons. Plodystyi stressed that Ukraine places great emphasis on ensuring the case is examined fairly and impartially.

Source: European Pravda, citing Onet, a Polish web portal and online news platform

Details: On 2 December, Onet reported that Ukrainian school students had been assaulted in the city of Słupsk and that their teacher had made xenophobic remarks during lessons.

The case has been taken up by the police, but the father of one of the victims said that officers initially refused to accept a formal complaint. The police only registered the complaint the following day.

Quote from police spokesperson Jakub Bagiński: "In light of media reports that officers allegedly refused to register a complaint, the district commander has ordered an internal investigation."

Quote from Plodystyi: "The state needs to consider what to do to ensure that such incidents do not happen again. This is unacceptable. There can be no such conduct based on nationality. The Polish authorities and Polish society must respond."

More details: Commenting on the behaviour of the Polish teacher and the subsequent fight outside the school, the Ukrainian consul said that "if the recordings are verified, appropriate conclusions will have to be drawn".

The police in Słupsk are investigating the fight. The teacher who allegedly expressed xenophobic views is on leave. The education authority has opened an inquiry into his conduct.

The teacher is reported to have insulted Ukrainian students, called them "scum" and threatened that they would fail their exams. His comments were recorded on video. "Next time you take an exam, you will definitely fail. Because I'm going to show you what a Pole is," the teacher is heard saying.

During lessons, one of the Polish students would play recordings of bombs and missiles to mock the Ukrainian pupils, and the teacher failed to intervene. The student would tell the Ukrainians, "It's time to hide." Ukrainian students also received abusive messages.

Some Polish students were spurred on by the teacher's anti-Ukrainian remarks. After classes, two Ukrainian teenagers were brutally beaten up by older students, who shouted insults based on their nationality. One attacker reportedly spat in the face of a 16-year-old Ukrainian boy, saying: "Off to the front, Ukrainian bitch" before punching him in the face.

One of the victims suffered concussion; the other has a broken collarbone.

Background:

• In September, a cross was sawn off a Ukrainian church in Poland; a suspect was later detained.
• In October, during a football match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Legia Warsaw in Kraków, some Polish fans unfurled a banner reading "We remember Volhynia", which the Ukrainian ambassador described as a provocation. [The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles – ed.]

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