EU Council backs Poland to suspend asylum amid criticism from advocacy groups

October 18, Pozirk. Russia, Belarus or any other country cannot be allowed to abuse Europe’s values, including the right to asylum, and to undermine its democracies, the European Council said today at the Brussels summit.
The statement by the European Union institution that defines the EU’s general political direction and priorities comes as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk faces severe criticism from advocacy groups and politicians for his migration strategy, which provides for the “territorial” suspension of the right to asylum.
The move may expose to risks thousands of Belarusians seeking asylum in Poland after fleeing politically-motivated persecution in Belarus.
The EU Council, however, sided with the Polish prime minister.
“Exceptional situations require appropriate measures. The European Council recalls its determination to ensure effective control of the Union’s external borders through all available means, including with the support of the European Union, in line with EU and international law. It reaffirms its commitment to countering the instrumentalisation of migrants for political purposes,” it said.
The suspension of asylum procedures has come under fire from Amnesty International. The plan is brazenly illegal, said Dinushika Dissanayake, its deputy regional director for Europe.
“EU member states like Poland are playing politics with the rights of refugees and migrants,” she said in a statement on October 16. “From Poland to Finland, Greece and Germany, so-called emergencies are being weaponized to enact laws that gravely undermine access to asylum and the protection from refoulement.”
Proposals to temporarily suspend asylum rights put the rights of people seeking safety at risk, the human rights activist noted. They punish people who may have been subject to violence and human trafficking, or “lured to EU borders under false pretenses.”
Dissanayake also said these proposals were clearly at odds with the EU’s recently adopted crisis regulation under the Pact on Migration and Asylum.
“States have a range of tools available to respond to security concerns, which must in all cases uphold human rights, including the right to asylum, as protected by the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights,” she stressed. “Since 2021, the EU has been tolerating practices enacted by Poland, Latvia and Lithuania at their borders with Belarus that go beyond all powers granted to them under EU law, and more recently at Finland’s border with Russia. It is high time for the European Commission to take its role as guardian of the treaties seriously and send a clear message that fundamental rights cannot be bent to political interests.”
The EU summit is taking place on October 17–18 with migration high on the agenda. European leaders discuss, among other things, strengthening control over the EU’s frontier and combating human trafficking and smuggling.

Duda criticizes new migration strategy as a mistake
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja welcomes new EU sanctionsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsNew terrorist designations announcedThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsOpposition urges Washington to appoint special envoy for BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityŁukašenka issues edict to detail wartime transport requisitioning proceduresThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, Politics, SecurityOpposition politician Łatuška welcomes EU sanctions as show of strengthThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsTbilisi court rules to free Belarusian asylum seekerThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Economy
- PoliticsInterior ministry brands one Estonian, 31 Belarusians as extremistsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsFree Belarus Museum opens new exhibition on third anniversaryThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyGovernment to build new pulp and paper mill in Viciebsk regionThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, Security
- EconomyKlaipėda terminal keeps up pressure on Lithuanian government to resume transit of Belarus’ fertilizersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: new wave of arrests targeting 2020 protestersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SportBelarusian gymnasts to rejoin international competitionsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBiełavija to open new China linkThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsBelarus and Laos sign visa exemption dealThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics