Poland has announced plans to temporarily suspend the right to asylum as part of a campaign to reduce illegal migration amid tensions with Belarus, which Warsaw accuses of routing people across its border.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated on Saturday that one of the elements of the migration strategy will be the temporary territorial suspension of the right to asylum.
According to Tusk, the bloc’s asylum rights are being actively abused by Belarus and Russia.
Migration has been high on the agenda in Poland since 2021, when large numbers of people, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, started trying to illegally cross the border with Belarus in what Warsaw and the European Union said was a crisis orchestrated by Minsk and its ally Russia.
As part of what Tusk has previously called a “hybrid war” strategy intended to incite anti-migration sentiment and hog state resources, Belarusian border guards have been observed openly supporting the groups.
Belarus stands accused of offering visas to desperate people in war-torn countries like Syria and encouraging them to fly to the country as a transit stop on the way to the EU.
Meanwhile, since taking office in December 2023, Tusk has pursued a tough policy towards migration, a strategy which has won broad public support but which has dismayed activists who had hoped he would abandon the previous, nationalist administration’s approach.
In July, Poland’s parliament passed legislation that made it easier for security services to use weapons against migrants on the Belarus border.
Amnesty International warns that asylum seekers, “including families with children, often in need of immediate help, have been beaten with batons and rifle butts and threatened with security dogs by Belarusian forces” as they attempt to cross into safety in Poland.
Related posts:
Malawi arrests 400 refugees, asylum seekers
Lekki shooting: Army witness contradicts videos claiming it shot at protesters
India Lodges Complaint Over Chinese Map Claiming Territory
Poland announces it will no longer send arms to Ukraine
US announces resumption of Food Aid to Ethiopian refugees
Brazil shooting: 11 persons killed at a bar in Belem
Fire kills more than 23 in Mexican bar
We’ll bar unregistered port service providers from seaports – Shippers Council
