Topic: Protecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Country: Poland
Delegate Name: Sarah Wordhouse
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Poland position papers GLIMUN 2018 committees
Before Wolrd War II, there were approximately 1 million ethnic Germans who lived in Poland, making up around 3.5 of the population. The conclusion of the war led to the disposition to the of tens to hundreds of thousands of deaths of Germans caused by Poland and the surrounding countries expelling them from their land during 1945-1949. After this, around 250,000 Germans remained in Poland. Then, in around 1960, Poland denied German minorities inside its borders. However, in 1989, the normalization of relations between Poland and West Germany commenced. Germans were now able to reassert their ethnic identity inside of Poland. The Polish-German Treaty of Good Neighbourhood and Cooperation, signed in July 1991, states the allowance of ethnic Germans “‘freely to express, preserve and develop their ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity, both individually and collectively,’”’ (United Nations. (2018, March). While Poland has given rights back to the German minority, Poland wishes to now receive the same. Today, Berlin is not fond of returning the minority status of German Poles. Even after the signed “Good Neighbor Treaty,’ there still remains some “asymmetry” amongst the countries. While roles for Germans increased with added benefits of minority status, which includes financial aid, lifting the 5% threshold to get into parliament, as well as bilingual signs, ethnic Poles have not revied any of this same treatment from Germany. Poles in Germany now face poverty and are designated the roles of “beggars,” (CYWIŃSKI, P. (2016, June 30). Because Poles do not have a minority status in Germany, therefore they are given limited rights. This taking away of rights was caused by the invasion of Nazi-Germany in Poland and was liquidated in February of 1940. Since then, The German Ambassador in Poland Guenther Knackstedt has written that “For the first time since World War II, the German minority has not only been formally recognized but it has also been given legal guarantees allowing for its development on native lands. In addition to this, the treaty designates a special bridge function to the German minority living in Poland as well as to people of Polish origin who live in Germany.” This can lead to the assumption that ethnic Germans are well treated in Poland today but the same cannot be said vice versa. With all this being stated, Poland believes that Germans are given a minority status in Poland, but we would like to receive the same in Germany. It seems only fair that the relationship would be reciprocal, and because of the invasion of Poland by Germany which displaced people same Poland later did to Germans in retaiation, there should be equal standards set in place. Poland would support a resolution that protects ethnicities and minorities of countries such as non-discriminatory voting in office and tax benefits, as these are what is received from our German Poles counterparts. We believe that there should be equality given for minority status, and would be willing to work with multiple countries including Germany to help resolve these issues.
References CYWIŃSKI, P. (2016, June 30). The Asymmetry of Polish-German relations. Retrieved from https://polska.pl/politics/foreign-affairs/asymmetry-polish-german-relations/ United Nations. (2018, March). World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Poland: Germans. Retrieved from http://www.refworld.org/docid/49749cc9c.html
