"In this great wave of migration, there will be Islamic fighters, terrorists, thousands of young men (who) will migrate to Europe," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, leader of the country's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, told a press conference on Thursday (October 12), reported by the news agency, Reuters.

Migration is at the heart of PiS' campaign to try and win a third term in office. In fact, when the election date was set, the Polish government also set a date for a same-day referendum for voters to vote on what they think about the European Union's quota system for relocating migrants from around the bloc.

As Poland heads to the polls, the government is hoping that they will be seen as the party that has made good on its pledge to stop irregular migration.

PiS has been sharing videos and pictures, which appear to give the impression that migration is a threat to Poland, its people and their ways of life.

Also read: Migrants stage hunger strike in Poland's detention centers

How tough will parties get on migration?

At the same time, the ruling party is also trying to cast the opposition as a group of people who would demolish the border fence, which the country built on its border with Belarus, while also accepting the terms of the EU's proposal of migrant quotas.

This, however, is not true, say opposition parties according to Reuters, stressing that the fence on the border with Belarus would remain in place.

The European Commission has meanwhile also insisted that Poland would not be forced to take in more migrants under the quota system as Poland is already hosting many Ukrainians who fled their country following Russia's invasion.

In response, opposition parties have been trying to fight back with facts, pointing to figures which suggest that there has actually been an increase in migrants arriving in Poland from outside of Europe during PiS' time in office.

'Cash-for-visas' scandal

Furthermore, the opposition is also trying to steer attention to a recent "cash-for-visas" scandal which alleges that government officials may have been complicit in accepting cash to push through work visas in Poland.

PiS party officials have hit back saying the opposition has been exaggerating the scale of the "cash-for-visas" affair, and that reasons for the increase in migrants is due to procedures put in place prior to PiS taking control, when the opposition was in power.

Border checks to remain in place

On October 12, Poland - along with the Czech Republic and Austria - also announced that they would be extending their temporary border controls with Slovakia.

"There will be no illegal migration routes through Poland," stated Poland's Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski on Thursday, reported by the German press agency dpa.

The Czech government had agreed to the extention late on Wednesday night, and Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner confirmed his country would be doing the same, according to dpa.

The controls were originally put in place in early October amid an increase of migrants coming through their countries from the so-called Balkan route. Many of those arriving, however, are eventually hoping to make it to Germany or beyond.

Still, the three countries all announced that they would be extending the checks until at least early November.

Germany also watching events along border

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also stated this week that the numbers of migrants arriving in the country is "too high."

His statement follows increasing numbers of Germans expressing the same sentiment and voting for parties vowing to cut migration levels in two recent regional elections in the states of Bavaria and Hesse.

In elections last weekend, there was a clear swing to the right, with the CDU/CSU conservative parties winning the vote, and the far-right and anti-migrant AFD party coming second in the numbers of votes cast.

The German police are also making more efforts to stop migrants entering their country through its eastern borders with countries like Poland and the Czech Republic.

Germany's federal government, which is run by a Social Democrat, free-market Liberal and Green Party coalition, has vowed to speed up the numbers of deportations of those who have been refused asylum.

With Reuters, dpa, AFP