Poland has suspended the right of migrants to apply for asylum when they arrive via its border with Belarus. The Polish President Andrzej Duda signed a new law restricting the rights of people to request asylum on Wednesday (March 26). It comes at a time when Poland is strengthening its border with Belarus due to what it describes as migration being used as a hybrid war tactic. Mr Duda said after signing the new bill: “I believe that it is necessary to strengthen the security of our borders and the security of Poles.”
Prime Minister Donald Tusk had urged Mr Duda to sign the legislation after he had previously expressed concerns it could make it harder for dissidents in authoritarian Belarus to flee the repressive regime there. The new legislation introduces temporary restrictions on the right to submit an application for international protection for those who have crossed the border into the NATO and European Union member state illegally.
Mr Tusk said the bill would be adopted “without a moment’s delay”, according to a BBC report. This is despite human rights groups calling on the European Union to take legal action if it is implemented.
Human Rights Watch urged the Poland’s parliament in February to reject the bill, saying it flew in the face of Poland’s international and EU obligations.
The group said the legislation could “effectively completely seal off the Poland-Belarus border”, claiming Polish authorities already engage in “unlawful and abusive pushbacks”.
Mr Tusk said last year that “nobody is talking about violating the right to asylum, adding: “We are talking about not granting applications to people who illegally cross the border in groups organised by (Belarusian President Alexander) Lukashenko.”
The Polish Prime Minister accused Belarusian border guards of aiding would be migrants, many of whom are from Africa and the Middle East, to destabilise Poland and tie up resources. He said previously that there are 100 to 200 attempts daily to illegally cross the border.
Under the bill, exemptions will be in place for pregnant women, unaccompanied children, the sick, the elderly, anyone at risk of “serious harm” if returned and those from countries deemed to be “instrumentalising” migration.
Poland, Latvia, Finland and Lithuania have seen a surge in illegal crossings from Belarus and Russia since 2021. Over 100 people have died on the borders between Belarus and Poland, Lithuania and Latvia since then, according to human rights groups.
Mr Tusk first proposed the move at a meeting of EU leaders in October. They gave their approval in “exceptional circumstances” linked to threats from Belarus and Russia.
Brussels estimates up to about 15,000 people illegally cross Poland every year, using two main routes through the country.
The “Balkan trail” is used by Romanians, Bulgarians and citizens from countries which made up the former Yugoslavia who enter legally as rules allow a one-month stay without a visa. They then try to cross into Germany illegally.
The second route through Poland runs from the Lithuanian border to Germany. It is dominated by people from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
A report this week alleged various forms of abuse faced by people on the move at the Poland-Belarus border. Oxfam and the Polish NGO Egala said Polish authorities have adopted a policy of pushbacks, which denies people the right to asylum without assessment of their asylum claims or carrying out formal deportation procedures.
The pushbacks are “often physically violent” and “endanger the lives of people attempting to cross the border” by leaving them without water, food or healthcare, the rights groups said.