A barefoot Yemeni at the bus stop, or how a lynching almost happened

The internet erupted in outrage. Aggression, calls for violence against this man, racism, and chauvinism. Substantive content clearly outweighed hate speech. The foreigner, the immigrant, was immediately "pacified" and labeled as the worst of evils.

It was a young Yemeni citizen, a citizen of a country located in Southwest Asia on the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen is rich in oil, gas, and diamonds, has an excellent geographical location, and access to two seas (the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the south, and the Red Sea to the west). It would seem that this country should be wealthy and offer a comfortable life. It is anything but. Its inhabitants suffer from extreme poverty, children die from malnutrition, and an armed conflict has been raging for over six years. What is happening in this country of nearly 40 million people can be described as a catastrophe.

He probably came to Poland like most foreigners have for many, many years. Just like such people have, are, and will continue to come. Illegally, penniless and without any possessions. Why? He was probably fleeing the tragedy he witnessed firsthand in his homeland.

On July 7th of this year – in accordance with applicable Polish regulations – the Border Guard released him from the Guarded Center for Foreigners in Przemyśl, run by the Bieszczady Border Guard Unit. He first headed to a nearby public transport stop.

"Wake up, people. We'll be dead in two months," "I swear, if something like this happens to me, before I call the police, I'll show the engineers some of the construction materials with all my might. I'll start with the basics: reinforcement and formwork," "What's that sitting at the bus stop? He should be lying there, smashed to bits," "Luckily, we have some great fans, they'll clean up the bruises," "Catch him and dispose of him!" – these are just some of the comments under one of the posts...