Poland bans migrants from claiming asylum

Alsharq Tribune- Ahmed Essam 

Poland has banned migrants from claiming asylum, saying it wants to “take back control” of its borders. Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, announced the suspension in response to an influx of migrants at the border with Belarus, after claims that Russia is weaponising migration.

The new legislation allows Polish authorities to suspend the right of all migrants to claim asylum, for up to 60 days

Exemptions will be made for unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, elderly or unwell people, and anyone exposed to “real risk of serious harm”. The temporary ban will come into force “without a moment’s delay”, Mr Tusk said on Wednesday night.

Warsaw has claimed that neighbouring Belarus, under the influence of the Kremlin, is funnelling migrants to the Belarussian-Polish border, as part of a hybrid war to destabilise the EU.

Since mid-2021, every month several thousand migrants have tried to cross into Poland, leading Warsaw to erect a 5m-high barbed wire fence on a long stretch of the border.

ndrzej Duda, the Polish president, reportedly hesitated over the suspension, fearing it could hit Belarussian dissidents seeking refuge. But Poland has made clear that exceptions will be made for people at genuine risk.

In December, Mr Tusk called the bill a move to take back “control of Poland’s borders”.

Mr Tusk, head of the centrist Civic Platform, also framed the move as necessary to protect Polish culture.

Announcing the plan in the autumn, he said: “If someone wants to come to Poland, they must respect Polish standards, Polish customs, they must want to integrate.

Mr Tusk said neighbouring Germany, a popular destination for migrants, had “negative experiences” with immigration after ignoring integration. “If there are too many people of other cultures, then the native culture feels threatened,” the Polish prime minister added.

The suspension of asylum rights was criticised by rights groups.

Human Rights Watch described it as “flying in the face of Poland’s international and EU obligations”, saying it would “effectively completely seal off the Poland-Belarus border”. It also accused Poland of “brutally” pushing people back into Belarus with batons and pepper spray.

Poland is just the latest EU member state to massively restrict asylum rights in the face of what states say is a policy by Russia and Belarus to use migration as a weapon. Finland has been denying entry to asylum seekers on its border with Russia since 2023 in response to an rise in arrivals.

The country is preparing to extend its controversial deportation law, with a draft proposal to be put to the national parliament on Thursday. In another sign of the sea-change in European migration policies, Germany’s incoming government is also planning to radically restrict asylum numbers.

Friedrich Merz, the chancellor in waiting, has promised to stop all irregular migration across Germany’s land borders on his first day in office.