Refugee Protection, Poland

Joanna Zychla graduated from BA GMD in 2022 and went on to gain a postgraduate degree in Humanitarian Aid at the University of Warsaw. She now has two years of experience in refugee protection, having coordinated a humanitarian aid point at the Polish-Ukrainian border under the aegis of UNICEF and conducted protection monitoring for the Danish Refugee Council, Plan International and Vela Foundation. Joanna recently joined the Polish Center for International Aid as a Prevention of UA Refugees’ Homelessness in Poland Project Assistant and Graphic Designer.

Joanna continues to document her interests and produced this powerful set of images taken at The Independence March, an annual event aimed at celebrating Poland’s 1918 recovery of independence and statehood after 123 years of occupation during the so-called Partitions of Poland.

Joanna is concerned that;

Although the primary purpose of the march is to celebrate freedom and to demonstrate patriotism, it has also become the largest platform for expressing anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, anti-EU sentiments, and nationalism leaning towards chauvinism. While most of the estimated 124,000 attendees gather with genuine intentions, the far-right values promoted by the organisers cannot be overlooked”.

Joanna Zychla on LinkedIn