Amnesty International urges Poland to protect political emigrants from Belarus

August 6, Pozirk. Amnesty International has urged the Polish government to take urgent measures to protect political emigrants from Belarus in the face of severe repression in their home country.

The organization suggests that the government extend the validity of the travel document for foreigners to at least three years from one year at present, introduce special procedures for issuing IDs to Belarusian children born in Poland, adopt permanent legal solutions instead of temporary ones that are extended every six months and cut legalization red tape.

Amnesty International also appealed to the EU to harmonize legalization procedures for Belarusians with expired passports and work out a common strategy for the recognition of a new Belarusian passport and other IDs.

The international community “must prevent the Belarusian authorities from achieving their goal of creating unbearable conditions abroad to force those fleeing repression to return to Belarus,” the statement says.

The number of Belarusian holders of Polish residence permits surged from 28,000 in August 2020 to more than 143,000 as of late February 2025.

The total number of Belarusians in Poland is hard to estimate due to their different emigration status but Polish authorities said it may exceed 350,000 people. Over the past few years, Belarusians have accounted for the second-largest national minority in Poland after Ukrainians.

Also read: Number of Belarusians residing in Poland surges since 2020

Following the 2020 political crisis in Belarus, Poland became a primary destination for Belarusians fleeing politically-motivated persecution at home.

In July, the Polish Office for Foreigners reported receiving approximately 1,600 applications for asylum from Belarusians in the first half of the year, compared with about 5,000 from Ukrainians and 400 from Russians.

A total of 2,600 Belarusians were granted asylum in Poland last year and 2,900 in 2023. Besides, Belarusians submitted 3,900 applications in 2024 compared with 3,700 in 2023. Just 150 were rejected.

Belarusians are the second largest group of applicants, behind Ukrainians (7,000 applications and 3,900 approvals) but ahead of Russians (1,000 applications and 660 denials).