The first 60 of more than 1,000 Afghans evacuated to Poland have been granted international protection by the Polish authorities.
During the airlift that followed the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Kabul, Polish forces helped bring out Afghan nationals who had worked with Poland and other NATO forces during their 20-year presence in Afghanistan, as well as their families.
“We do not forget about allies, especially those in the greatest need,” said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at the time. He pledged to provide the evacuees with support once they arrived in Poland.
On Friday, Poland’s Office for Foreigners (UdSC), which has been caring for the refugees since their arrival, announced that the first 60 applications for international protection had been approved.
This gives the refugees an indefinite right to live and work in Poland, noted the UdSC’s spokesman, quoted by Polskie Radio. They will also be able to receive medical care, assistance with integration, access to education, as well as unemployment, family and other social benefits.
They will be issued with Polish residence cards and a so-called “Geneva passport” – a travel document issued to refugees by the state in which they reside – allowing them to travel freely within the European Union and Schengen area, as well as to other countries if relevant visas are obtained.
While Poland has welcomed Afghan evacuees, it has sought to prevent migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia (including Afghanistan) from entering over its border with Belarus, where thousands have been seeking to cross.
The Polish government argues that these are economic migrants rather than refugees, and notes that their travel to Belarus and passage across the border is being facilitated by the Belarusian authorities, as well as criminal trafficking groups.
Human rights organisations and some in Poland’s opposition have, however, accused the authorities of turning away, and even pushing back across the border, asylum seekers, which they say is illegal under international law. They have also criticised border guards for sending young children back into Belarus.
Main image credit: UdSC_gov_pl/Twitter
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.
