{"id":110583,"date":"2024-10-22T13:57:14","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T10:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/110583\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"polands-migration-strategy-calls-for-new-approach-to-asylum","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/110583\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland\u2019s migration strategy calls for new approach to asylum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Alaksej Jakimovi\u010d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Polish government has approved a migration strategy for 2024-2030, proposing a temporary suspension of asylum applications at border checkpoints in situations of direct threat to national security. It also calls for stricter immigration controls, including conditions for legalization based on integration into society.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\n Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaking in Sejm on October 16\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (gov.pl)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Migration Strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a six-hour debate on October 15, the Polish government approved a migration strategy for 2024-2030 proposed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document outlines Warsaw’s push for reforms to international asylum procedures, both as a member of the European Union and other international organizations, to enhance national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strategy includes a proposal for the “temporary and territorial suspension” of asylum applications at border checkpoints or other locations “in situations of direct threat to state security.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the event that Poland suspects a security threat, it may place asylum seekers in detention at special centers. This practice already exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strategy also calls for procedures to return individuals who are denied asylum to their countries of origin, and it stipulates that immigrants must demonstrate successful integration into society as a condition for legal status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general, the strategy proposes restrictions on immigrants\u2019 access to the labor market and education to prevent abuse of these systems for the purpose of obtaining legalization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opposition and concerns about persecuted Belarusians<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Andrzej Duda warned the Sejm on October 16 that the strategy could prevent many victims of Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s regime from applying for asylum in Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the disputed 2020 presidential election in Belarus, Poland became a primary destination for Belarusians fleeing politically motivated persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By late 2023, over 118,000 Belarusians were living in Poland, including 578 with refugee status. Since January 2024, some 12,300 people\u2014including 2,900 Belarusians and 4,500 Ukrainians\u2014have applied for asylum in Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duda argued that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and \u0141uka\u0161enka are attempting to destabilize the Polish border and the European Union. “But your response to this,” he said, “is to deny asylum to those whom Putin and \u0141uka\u0161enka imprison and persecute.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He expressed hope that Poland will remain a country of freedom and solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tusk countered that “there has not been a single case of a Belarusian opposition activist trying to cross the Polish-Belarusian border illegally in a group organized by \u0141uka\u0161enka.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Poland\u2019s opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party launched a campaign for a referendum on abolishing the right to asylum on October 18. PiS criticized the strategy as insufficiently radical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PiS leader Jaros\u0142aw Kaczy\u0144ski expressed concerns about Warsaw\u2019s “multi-culti” policies, claiming that some neighborhoods already have migrants attempting to break into other people\u2019s apartments. However, he provided no evidence to support these claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poland’s leading political parties have not responded unequivocally to recent incidents of xenophobia, such as threats by radical groups to form “civil patrols” to “teach” immigrants how to behave in Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a poll by SW Research, about 49% of Poles support stricter migration policies, including the suspension of asylum rights. A quarter of respondents opposed the new migration strategy, while 27% chose not to respond. Support for limiting asylum rights was higher among older respondents and those with higher incomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the EU Council meeting on October 17, Lithuania backed Warsaw\u2019s migration proposals. Lithuanian President Gitanas Naus\u0117da called on the European Commission to adjust the legal framework and provide Lithuania with the tools to resist hybrid attacks. The EU Council also expressed support for Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Exceptional situations require appropriate measures,” the European Council said. “It reaffirms its commitment to ensuring effective control of the Union\u2019s external borders through all available means, including the support of the European Union, in line with EU and international law. It also reaffirms its commitment to countering the instrumentalization of migrants for political purposes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deaths at the border<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on October 12 at a convention of the ruling Civil Coalition, Tusk acknowledged the deaths of two migrants at the Polish border and argued that the strategy was necessary to prevent such tragedies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the real death toll is far higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a report from the Belarusian human rights organization Human Constanta<\/em>, Latvia\u2019s Gribu pal\u012bdz\u0113t b\u0113g\u013ciem<\/em>, and Poland\u2019s Ocalenie Foundation<\/em>, at least 116 migrants died at the Belarusian-EU border between August 2021 and March 2024. The primary causes of death were hypothermia and exhaustion after prolonged stays in border forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least nine pregnant women are known to have lost their children, and five people died in car accidents while being pursued by police or border guards. Eleven bodies were found in rivers, while 47 bodies were discovered in Belarus, seven in Latvia, and four in Lithuania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author of this article visited a Tatar grave in the village of Bochoniki, in Poland\u2019s Podlasie region, this spring, and observed at least 10 fresh graves with no names or Arabic inscriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casualties were reported among Polish security personnel as large groups of migrants attempted to force their way through the border this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mateusz Sitek, 21, a private of the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade, died on June 6 in hospital after being stabbed by a man illegally entering Poland with a group of migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sixty-three Polish soldiers have been wounded at the border with Belarus since the beginning of the year,\u00a0Gazeta Wyborcza<\/em>\u00a0reported, citing Pawel Bejda, a deputy defense minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\n Graves of migrants at the Tatar (Muslim) cemetery in Bochoniki, Poland\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Pozirk)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Criticism of asylum suspension<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposal to suspend asylum procedures faced criticism from Amnesty International. Dinushika Dissanayake, the organization\u2019s deputy regional director for Europe, called the plan “brazenly illegal” and accused EU member states like Poland of using politics to undermine refugee rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom Poland to Finland, Greece, and Germany, so-called emergencies are being weaponized to enact laws that gravely undermine access to asylum and protection from refoulement,\u201d she said in a statement on October 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dissanayake argued that suspending asylum rights would put vulnerable people\u2014many of whom have been victims of violence, human trafficking, or were lured to the EU under false pretenses\u2014at greater risk. She added that such proposals were incompatible with the EU\u2019s recently adopted crisis regulation under the Pact on Migration and Asylum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“States have a range of tools available to address security concerns, which must in all cases uphold human rights, including the right to asylum, as protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights,” she said. “Since 2021, the EU has tolerated practices enacted by Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania at their borders with Belarus that go beyond all powers granted to them under EU law. It is 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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nearest Safe Country<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the mass scale of migration\u2014especially after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine\u2014measures against migrants might be expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, Tusk accused the previous government of helping Belarus and Russia establish “a network of foreign agents” by bringing in Russian and Belarusian IT professionals. He also claimed that hundreds of thousands of migrants from Africa and Asia had arrived in Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, by mid-October 2024, approximately 330 Somali nationals, around 300 Ethiopians and Eritreans, and over 300 Syrians had arrived from Belarus and were residing in Poland, according to Polish media citing the EU border agency Frontex. Many more likely traveled to other EU countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From January to October 15, there were more than 33,000 illegal crossings of the Belarusian-EU border, a 7.6% decrease compared to the previous year. Poland intercepted 27,625 of these attempts, while Latvia and Lithuania intercepted 4,676 and 700, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strategy asserts that Poland has shifted from being an emigration country to an immigration country. However, this is not necessarily because Poland is seen as an attractive destination; for many desperate people, it is simply the first safe country they encounter on their journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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