At least 585 people were arrested in the UK in 2013 for hate crimes against Polish nationals, statistics have revealed.

Piccadilly Circus, London. Photo:wikipedia

The figures demonstrate that on average, an arrest for hate crimes against Poles takes place every 14 hours.

However, the real number is likely to be considerably higher, as only 26 of the UK's constabulary forces replied to a request for figures by The Guardian newspaper.

Almost a quarter of the arrests (97) took place in Hertfordshire, which has a large Polish community in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield.

Other regions with a high level of hate crimes against Poles were Northern Ireland (85) and Lancashire (53).

The Guardian stresses that the figures are “just the tip of the iceberg” as they only show recorded crimes.

One victim of abuse, Andrzej Rygielski, told the paper that sections of the British media exacerbated the problem.

"The newspapers make us like monsters, like scum,” he said.

“They say we are stealing jobs and benefits. This is simply untrue.”

In January this year, Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski claimed that UK prime minister David Cameron was stigmatizing Poles by highlighting examples of Polish women sending child benefits out of Britain.

Cameron's remarks were "utterly irresponsible,” according to George Byczynski, founder of the British Polish Law Association. (nh)



