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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 German authorities are preparing to open a new “departure centre” on the border with Poland that will speed up the deportation of asylum seekers who have submitted claims for international protection in other EU member states but then relocated to Germany.
Under the so-called Dublin Regulation, the EU member state in which an asylum seeker submits their claim for international protection is responsible for processing the case. If the person in question moves in the meantime to another member state, they can be sent back to the country of arrival.
Last week, German newspaper Bild reported that the federal government in Berlin and the authorities in the state of Brandenburg, which borders Poland, will today sign an agreement on establishing a new, so-called “Dublin centre” in the town of Eisenhüttenstadt, which sits on the German-Polish border.
“The centre will have space for 150 to 250 people in two buildings,” Katrin Lange, Brandenburg’s interior minister, told Bild. “Then we will have all Dublin refugees in one central location. Because of the proximity to the Polish border, they can be quickly returned there.”
The newspaper also quoted an anonymous judge who said that, whereas Italy last year only took back four of thousands of asylum seekers from Germany, Poland takes back all “Dublin” refugees. However, most of them then quickly make their way back to Germany.
Bild reports that, to end this “revolving door effect”, Germany’s federal interior minister Nancy Faeser wants “Dublin” refugees not to receive the normal benefits granted to those who have claimed asylum in Germany and instead receive only basic provisions.
Poland’s main opposition party, the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), criticised the government for its alleged willingness to take back asylum seekers from Germany.
Former PiS deputy foreign minister Paweł Jabłoński noted that, according to the German report, whereas Italy is refusing to take back most Dublin deportees, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government is happy to do so.
However, such transfers have long taken place, including under the former PiS government. Data from Poland’s border guard show that, in the first nine months of 2024 – when the current government was in power – 570 people were returned from Germany to Poland under Dublin procedures.
In 2023 – when PiS was in power – 900 such transfers took place across the whole year, reports news website Interia. (Separately, Germany has been turning back thousands of migrants at the Polish border itself after reintroducing controls in 2023.)
⚠️To jest naprawdę mocne⚠️
„Włochy przyjęły od nas tylko 4 migrantów” – skarżą się Niemcy (bo chcieli im odesłać kilka tysiecy). I chwalą rząd Tuska: „Polska jest zupełnie inna – przyjmują KAŻDEGO”❗️
Scholz zadzwonił – i załatwione.
I właśnie przy granicy budują nowe centrum… pic.twitter.com/G8S2ZKxtXZ
— 🇵🇱 Paweł Jabłoński (@paweljablonski_) February 16, 2025
PiS has also accused the government of acquiescing to the EU’s new migration and asylum pact, which includes measures to relocate asylum seekers within Europe. However, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has insisted that his government would not accept any such relocations.
EU figures and experts have also noted that the pact allows member states to make “solidarity” payments instead of receiving asylum seekers. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on a visit to Poland this month that Brussels would take into account Poland’s generous support for Ukrainian refugees.
The Tusk government has also approved a tough new migration strategy that includes plans to deny the right to asylum for people who irregularly cross the border from Belarus.
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: Combat Camera Poland/Flickr (under CC BY-NC 2.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
