Critics of human rights have expressed dissatisfaction with Poland's President Andrzej Duda, who has just enacted a new law.
</p><div style="--widget_related_list_trans: 'Related';"><div class="c-ad c-ad-halfpage u-show-for-mobile-only"><div class="c-ad__placeholder"><img class="c-ad__placeholder__logo" src="https://static.euronews.com/website/images/logos/logo-euronews-grey-6-180x22.svg" width="180" height="22" alt="" loading="lazy"/><span>ADVERTISEMENT</span></div></div><p>Poland temporarily suspended the right of migrants arriving in the country via its border with Belarus to apply for asylum this past Wednesday.
Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister, stated that the bill would be put into law without any delay, following its adoption by Polish President Andrzej Duda.
“I believe that it is necessary to strengthen the security of our borders and the security of Poles,” Duda announced, despite expressing concerns in the past that the legislation would make it harder for dissidents in Belarus to flee the country’s repressive regime.
The legislation, which allows Polish authorities to suspend the right to asylum for up to 60 days, has been heavily criticized by human rights groups.
In February, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) advised Poland that the proposed law would conflict with both international and European asylum law.
Last month, Human Rights Watch suggested that the EU should take legal action against Poland if the bill is put into effect, stating that the legislation “goes against Poland’s international and EU obligations” and urging the Polish parliament to vote it down.
Tusk sees the bill as necessary to address the situation of migrants entering Poland from Belarus, where he and others in his government believe that Moscow and Minsk intentionally encourage migrants to cross in order to destabilize Europe.
The legislation authorizes Poland to suspend a migrant’s right to asylum in such cases, which Tusk uses as a “serious and genuine threat” to national security.
Exclusions are made for certain categories, including minors, pregnant women, people with special healthcare needs, those deemed at “real risk of harm” if returned to their country, and citizens of countries like Belarus accused of using migration as a political weapon.
A last-minute amendment also permits families with minors to claim asylum despite the new limitations.
NGOs have criticized the legislation, but Tusk insists that it is only intended to combat the organized and unauthorized migration orchestrated by Russia and Belarus and does not infringe on migrants’ general human rights.
Poland’s 400-kilometre boundary with Belarus has long been a crisis point, with thousands attempting to cross into Poland through dense forests and sub-zero temperatures.
Warsaw has invested billions in fortifying the location in an effort to combat unauthorized migration, constructing a 5.5-metre steel wall topped with barbed wire and a 206-kilometre electronic barrier equipped with motion-sensing cameras.
Hundreds are estimated to have perished at the Poland-Belarus border since 2021, with thousands reported to have been subjected to unlawful and violent pushbacks by Polish border guards, according to rights organizations.
