UK Government urged to ban entry to Polish far-right speaker for Islamophobia and anti-Semitism

Numerous organizations have been quick to urge the Home Office to ban entry to Mr. Rafal Ziemkiewicz, a Polish far-right speaker, in response to Mr. Ziemkiewicz’s planned upcoming events in Bristol and Cambridge.

Mr. Ziemkiewicz is a Polish author and journalist who has been heavily criticised for his frequent use of far-right rhetoric against various minorities, particularly Muslims.

He has expressed concern that France has “no hope” against Muslim “invaders” and “barbarians” who are waiting for “white people to get exhausted while they gradually expand their sharia enclaves…taking control over the entire country”.

He has also drawn controversy over his stance on the Holocaust.

Mr. Ziemkiewicz appeared as a guest on a Polish TV show in January where he made comments suggesting that Jews held some responsibility for their own persecution during the Holocaust. The show focused on the introduction of the Polish ‘Holocaust Law’ which criminalises narratives that claim Poland played a role in Nazi war crimes. The host of the show and Mr. Ziemkiewicz were also seen joking that death camps should be called “Jewish death camps”.

One event which was to be attended by Mr. Ziemkiewicz has already been cancelled by the intervention of Ms. Rupa Huq MP, – the Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton.

In reference to Mr. Ziemkiewic, Ms. Huq stated that: “This is a man with a track record of deliberately antagonising minority communities with his bigoted comments. His part pieces of Holocaust denial and Islamophobia are not welcome in Ealing”.

Ms. Huq wants the UK Government to go further and prevent Mr. Ziemkiewic from entering the UK.

She has said that: “Ziemkiewic’s presence is not conducive to good race relations anywhere in the UK and just as I have spoken in the House of Commons urging that we ban Trump I similarly contend that Rafal Ziemkiewic is not welcome on these shores”.

Mr. Daniel Zeichner MP, – the Labour MP for Cambridge – has also raised similar concerns.

Mr. Zeichner said that: “Any individual or group supporting Islamophobia, antisemitism or racial discrimination is not welcome”.

He continued by saying that: “The residents of the city I represent do not support views of this nature in any way”.

A Home Office spokesperson, whilst unable to comment on individual cases, has said in response to the issue that: “The home secretary may exclude an EEA national on the grounds of public policy or security if they pose a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat”.