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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned Poland that its proposed new migration and asylum rules would violate international and European law.
Among Poland’s plans, which have been formulated in response to a migration crisis engineered by Belarus and Russia on Poland’s eastern border, are introducing measures to allow the temporary suspension of the right to claim asylum by those who enter the country in an irregular manner.
But in comments presented to Poland’s parliament, Kevin Allen, the UNHCR’s representative in Poland, warned that the government’s proposals in their current form “would unfortunately result in legislation that is not in compliance with international law and European law”.
Proposed legislation to restrict access to asylum in Poland, as currently conceived in the Sejm, would contravene the 1951 Refugee Convention, and International and European law.
But UNHCR proposes solutions.
See statement delivered in the Sejm:https://t.co/gXljwvPsVa pic.twitter.com/qYXl8X8TGh
— UNHCR Polska (@UNHCRPoland) February 4, 2025
He reminded the Polish government that countries cannot return refugees to a place “where they would be at risk of persecution or serious harm” and that this principle still applies in the context of “weaponised migration”, the term Poland and the EU have used to describe the situation on the Belarus border.
“The UNHCR was born in the ashes of World War II, responding to the forced displacement of millions of refugees – including Poles,” noted Allen, adding that Poland in 1991 ratified the Geneva Convention that is designed to protect the rights of such refugees.
The convention includes the so-called non-refoulement principle, which forbids countries from returning refugees to a country where they can face serious threats to their life or freedom.
Allen said that the “UNHCR fully appreciates the operational and geopolitical complexities that Poland faces on its external EU borders, most notably the Belarusian border”. He also condemned “the instrumentalisation of migrants and refugees”.
But, at the same time, he highlighted that the non-refoulement principle “applies in all situations of people on the move, including in the context of ‘instrumentalisation’ or the so-called ‘weaponisation’ of migrants and refugees”.
Exceptions apply only if “there are reasonable grounds for regarding individual refugees as a danger to the security of the country”. However, this requires an individualised assessment of cases.
The UNHCR representative concluded that, in its current form, Poland’s draft legislation would exclude too many people from their due right to seek asylum because “frontline border guards do not have the requisite administrative and judicial competencies” to assess asylum seekers.
Poland's government has approved tougher new migration rules intended to "take back control" of borders, including by suspending the right to claim asylum.
"We have launched a ruthless fight against illegal immigration," said Prime Minister @donaldtusk https://t.co/RSTP293oRb
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) December 18, 2024
“The UNHCR stands ready to constructively support Poland in crafting nuanced legal, policy and operational approaches that ensure strong border management, address national security concerns and, at the same time, provide safeguards for people in need of international protection,” concluded Allen.
Since 2021, Poland has seen tens of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers – mostly from the Middle East, Asia and Africa – try to cross into the country from Belarus with the encouragement and assistance of the Belarusian authorities.
Amid a rising number of crossings in the first half of 2024, Prime Minister Donald Tusk proposed a package of measures intended to toughen migration and asylum rules with the aim of “taking back control” of the country’s borders. It was given final approval by the government in December.
The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner has written to the European Court of Human Rights about Poland’s continued practice of “pushing back” asylum seekers into Belarus without considering their claims for international protection https://t.co/l3NIHOX8Js
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 23, 2024
Poland’s handling of the situation on the border has previously also been criticised by the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, who expressed his concern over the practice of “pushing back” asylum seekers into Belarus without considering their claims for international protection.
However, Poland has received backing from the European Union, which in December provided funds to it and other eastern member states to protect their borders from “weaponised migration” being engineered by Belarus and Russia.
Tusk has also indicated that the EU has been receptive towards his plans to allow the temporary and partial suspension of asylum rights.
Poland "will not implement" the EU migration pact if it involves the "forced acceptance of migrants", says @donaldtusk.
That would "waste the efforts of our border officers who are risking their lives" to make “Poland one of the safest places in Europe" https://t.co/ZUTLcmRkHA
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 4, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Agnieszka Sadowska/ Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Agata Pyka is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a journalist and a political communication student at the University of Amsterdam. She specialises in Polish and European politics as well as investigative journalism and has previously written for Euractiv and The European Correspondent.
