Migration Missiles: Poland Restricts Asylum Rights

Poland suspended asylum claims by migrants arriving via Belarus, part of efforts to shore up its border in the face of hybrid war tactics by Russia’s ally to use migrants to destabilize the European Union, the Associated Press reported.

Despite concerns that such a law could make it harder for Belarussian dissidents to flee the repressive regime and find refuge in Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk appealed to Polish President Andrzej Duda to sign the controversial bill, which allows authorities to suspend asylum rights for up to 60 days at a time.

This law restricts the right to apply for international protection for individuals who have crossed the border into NATO and the EU member states illegally.

The provisions allow for exemptions for unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, the elderly, the sick, individuals at “real risk of serious harm” if repatriated, and citizens of countries accused of instrumentalizing migration, according to the BBC.

The government said the suspension applies to those who could be a threat to state security, such as “large groups of aggressive migrants trying to storm the border.”

Human rights groups criticized the bill. Human Rights Watch had urged Poland to reject it and said the EU should take legal action against Poland if implemented as it could “effectively completely seal off the Poland-Belarus border, where Polish authorities already engage in unlawful and abusive pushbacks.”

Tusk dismissed these criticisms, saying that Poland wants to reject claims from people who cross the border illegally “in groups organized by Lukashenko,” referring to Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

EU eastern countries and the European Commission have accused Belarus and Russia of weaponizing migration to destabilize the EU by creating new routes into the bloc.

Since 2021, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Finland have seen increased migration flows, with migrants crossing their borders illegally from Belarus and Russia.

Poland has sent thousands of troops and border guards to its border with Belarus, where it built an 18-foot steel fence. Thousands of migrants remained stranded there.

According to human rights groups, more than 100 people have died on the borders between Belarus and Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia since 2021.