Polish official: proposal to halt asylum procedures is a response to Łukašenka-orchestrated crisis

October 15, Pozirk. The idea to suspend the right to asylum arose a few weeks ago during a long conversation involving officials as a reaction to the migration crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border, Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszczyk has told TVN 24.
He pointed out that currently, even migrants who attack Polish border guards have the right to request asylum. The state is helpless because the Geneva Convention does not specify any responses to such incidents, he said.
If Warsaw receives information that Belarusians, for example, are bringing people who have been released from Syrian prisons and massing them at the Polish border, it should be able to suspend the right to asylum temporarily and territorially, he contended. Otherwise, asylum procedures can be used to amplify the effect that Alaksandar Łukašenka seeks to achieve, he added.
At last week’s congress of the ruling Civic Coalition, its leader, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, announced that he would present a new migration strategy at a government meeting on October 15. It proposes a temporary, local suspension of the right to asylum.
Tusk pledged that the government will reduce illegal immigration to a minimum.
However, the state should promote the influx of people who really want to honestly work in Poland, pay their taxes there and integrate into Polish society, he said.
After the 2020 unrest in Belarus, Poland has become a key country for Belarusians fleeing political persecution.

Polish parliamentary speaker skeptical about Tusk’s asylum halt proposal
- Politics, SecurityRussian-born Butraniec appointed as deputy chairman of State Border CommitteeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityLithuania, Latvia report a spike in irregular border crossing attemptsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBelarusian steelmaker scales back output to maintain profitabilityThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsBelarus' FM accuses the West of impeding development of other countriesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Economy
- EconomyBelarus to raise subsistence minimum budget on May 1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsOpposition politician slams prison sentences against Kalinoŭski fighters as revengeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyGovernment allows hunting bears, lynxesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityJournalists expose Belarusian company’s links with Russian defense industryThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsRights groups declare seven new political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: jailed activist Kaleśnikava turns 43The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityMinsk court sentences five Belarusian volunteer fighters to lengthy prison termsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyMore than 17,000 Belarusians visited Georgia in Q1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityArmy battalion conducting offensive exercise near AsipovičyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsUN experts sound alarm over forced psychiatric treatment of Belarusian dissidentsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Economy
- PoliticsRights group reports raids in Dziaržynsk, exiled Belarusians targetedThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsSikorski, Rubio discuss migration crisis at Polish-Belarusian borderThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: police punish criticism of Łukašenka’s policiesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCatholic priest free after reported April 23 arrestThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyBelarus arrests French man on suspicion of hashish smugglingThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsBelarus’ police arrest Catholic priest, evangelical pastorThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Belarus to build nuclear disposal site in Mahiloŭ region, Astraviec district or radiation-contaminated areaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsBelarus, Russia postpone common oil market until 2027The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsRussian-Ukrainian war to determine Belarus’ future - SikorskiThe material is available only to POZIRK+