Poland progresses towards prohibiting asylum at border with ally of Russia
The UN refugee watchdog recently issued a warning that the EU-supported policy at the Belarusian border is set to contravene international law. Poland is poised to approve a contentious bill that would mean the majority of asylum claims from...
TroibNews 
The UN refugee watchdog recently issued a warning that the EU-supported policy at the Belarusian border is set to contravene international law.
Poland is poised to approve a contentious bill that would mean the majority of asylum claims from migrants arriving from Belarus will be rejected. Although the policy has not yet received formal approval from President Andrzej Duda, it has gained the backing of the EU and has faced criticism for its potential legal implications.
In February, the Polish parliament passed a bill that permits the suspension of the right to seek asylum at the Belarus border. This decision aligns with the Polish government’s characterization of the situation as "hybrid warfare" tactics employed by Belarus and Russia. Both countries have denied any involvement in facilitating an influx of migrants into the EU.
During a press conference on Friday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk remarked that the bill still required Duda’s signature. “It is not my job to rush the president. Of course, I know the constitutional powers. . . . I know that he still has time. But we, Poles, do not have time, because. . . . every day we record 100, 150, 200 attempts to cross the border illegally,” he stated.
According to RMF FM, Duda was “very irritated” by Tusk’s public comments. The outlet noted that the president “often emphasizes that he is in favor of strengthening our eastern border, so there will be a signature.”
In 2024, the EU expressed its support for Tusk’s initiative to suspend asylum claims. The European Council declared at that time that “Russia and Belarus… cannot be allowed to abuse our values, including the right to asylum, and to undermine our democracies,” while also backing efforts to fortify the bloc’s external borders.
Nevertheless, in February, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees cautioned that the proposed legislation would breach international and European law, emphasizing that nations cannot send asylum seekers back to locations “where they would be at risk of persecution or serious harm.” Human Rights Watch also condemned the bill, stating that it would “formalize ongoing unlawful and abusive pushbacks at Poland’s border with Belarus.”
The situation escalated in 2021, when thousands of migrants, predominantly from the Middle East and Africa, began crossing into Poland from Belarus amid rising tensions between Minsk and Western nations. The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus following allegations of electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential election, claims that Minsk has passionately rejected.
In January, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko made it clear that he had no plans to prevent a wave of migrants heading towards Poland. “We do not fight against migration and people who want to live there [in the EU]… They slapped my people with sanctions, and I have to protect them? No way,” he commented at that time.
Frederick R Cook for TROIB News
Poland is poised to approve a contentious bill that would mean the majority of asylum claims from migrants arriving from Belarus will be rejected. Although the policy has not yet received formal approval from President Andrzej Duda, it has gained the backing of the EU and has faced criticism for its potential legal implications.
In February, the Polish parliament passed a bill that permits the suspension of the right to seek asylum at the Belarus border. This decision aligns with the Polish government’s characterization of the situation as "hybrid warfare" tactics employed by Belarus and Russia. Both countries have denied any involvement in facilitating an influx of migrants into the EU.
During a press conference on Friday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk remarked that the bill still required Duda’s signature. “It is not my job to rush the president. Of course, I know the constitutional powers. . . . I know that he still has time. But we, Poles, do not have time, because. . . . every day we record 100, 150, 200 attempts to cross the border illegally,” he stated.
According to RMF FM, Duda was “very irritated” by Tusk’s public comments. The outlet noted that the president “often emphasizes that he is in favor of strengthening our eastern border, so there will be a signature.”
In 2024, the EU expressed its support for Tusk’s initiative to suspend asylum claims. The European Council declared at that time that “Russia and Belarus… cannot be allowed to abuse our values, including the right to asylum, and to undermine our democracies,” while also backing efforts to fortify the bloc’s external borders.
Nevertheless, in February, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees cautioned that the proposed legislation would breach international and European law, emphasizing that nations cannot send asylum seekers back to locations “where they would be at risk of persecution or serious harm.” Human Rights Watch also condemned the bill, stating that it would “formalize ongoing unlawful and abusive pushbacks at Poland’s border with Belarus.”
The situation escalated in 2021, when thousands of migrants, predominantly from the Middle East and Africa, began crossing into Poland from Belarus amid rising tensions between Minsk and Western nations. The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus following allegations of electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential election, claims that Minsk has passionately rejected.
In January, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko made it clear that he had no plans to prevent a wave of migrants heading towards Poland. “We do not fight against migration and people who want to live there [in the EU]… They slapped my people with sanctions, and I have to protect them? No way,” he commented at that time.
Frederick R Cook for TROIB News
