The UN refugee agency previously cautioned that the EU-supported policy on the Belarusian border could breach international law.
Poland is nearing the final approval of a contentious law that would reject most asylum requests from migrants arriving from Belarus. The policy, awaiting formal approval from President Andrzej Duda but supported by the EU, has faced criticism for potentially violating international law.
In February, the Polish parliament approved a bill that allows for the suspension of the right to seek asylum at the Belarus border. This is intended to counter what Polish authorities have termed “hybrid warfare” tactics by Belarus and Russia, allegations both nations deny.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters on Friday that the bill still requires 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 said.
According to RMF FM, Duda was reportedly “very irritated” by Tusk’s public urging. However, 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 supported Tusk’s plan to suspend asylum claims, with the European Council stating that “Russia and Belarus… cannot be allowed to abuse our values, including the right to asylum, and to undermine our democracies” and expressing support for securing the EU’s external borders.
In February, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees warned that the proposed law could violate international and European law, reminding that countries cannot send asylum seekers back to a place “where they would be at risk of persecution or serious harm.” Human Rights Watch also criticized the bill, stating that it would “formalize ongoing unlawful and abusive pushbacks at Poland’s border with Belarus.”
The situation began in 2021, when thousands of migrants, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, began crossing into Poland from Belarus amid tensions between Belarus and the West. The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus over alleged fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which Belarus denies.
In January, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko indicated that he would not protect Poland from a migrant influx. “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 said at the time.
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