The stance of the Border Group on the draft is clear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SUSPENDING THE RIGHT MEANS PUSHING MIGRATION INTO THE GRAY AREA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Border Group, and we \u2013 the Nomada Association \u2013 demand the rejection of the draft bill amending the Act on granting foreigners protection on the territory of the Republic of Poland in its entirety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25aa\ufe0f All legal opinions \u2013 from the National Chamber of Legal Advisers, the Supreme Bar Council, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, UNHCR \u2013 attached by the Speaker of the Sejm to the Government’s draft bill amending the Act on granting foreigners protection on the territory of the Republic of Poland (document no. 924) unanimously criticize the provisions of the bill, emphasizing its incompatibility with Polish and international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25aa\ufe0f The government justifies the proposed changes by the necessity to respond to the instrumentalization of migration. At the same time, remedial actions are not directed at the authorities of Belarus. Refugees and migrants, who are themselves instrumentally exploited by the Belarusian regime and are in life or health-threatening situations, are being punished. They are the victims of political games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25aa\ufe0f Some of those harmed by being denied access to the asylum procedure will seek their rights through legal action. It is highly probable that they will win, either in Polish courts or in the European Court of Human Rights, with substantial compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25aa\ufe0f The psychological burdens that Border Guard officers and the military are already subjected to, carrying out orders that are not only unlawful but also unethical, will lead to growing health and social problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25aa\ufe0f The inability to apply for international protection is a concession from the state to smugglers, human traffickers, and a lack of control over migration through Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25aa\ufe0f In 2024, approximately 17,000 people applied for international protection in Poland, with the majority being citizens of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Officers of the Podlaskie Border Guard accepted about 2,700 applications for international protection, covering nearly 2,900 individuals. If Poland cannot handle a few thousand applications submitted at the Polish-Belarusian border \u2013 processing them and issuing positive or negative decisions \u2013 what does this say about the state of the administrative system?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25aa\ufe0f Poland’s response to the humanitarian crisis on the border with Belarus shows the weakness of the state, not its strength. Just as the migration crisis was deliberately triggered by Belarus and Russia, the Polish government is responding exactly according to the rules set by these authoritarian states, betraying values, common sense, and law, while convincing citizens that security concerns are at stake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25aa\ufe0f The bill provides that it will be the border officer \u2013 outside of any procedure \u2013 who decides whether a person belongs to a particularly vulnerable group and can apply for protection. However, in 2023, the Border Guard deported at least 120 people to Belarus, who were part of vulnerable groups: children, pregnant women, unaccompanied minors, the elderly, and those requiring medical care \u2013 failing to identify them as vulnerable individuals. The Border Guard is not responsible for assessing the situation of individuals wishing to apply for international protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u26ab\ufe0f For more, visit the @grupagranica profile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The stance of the Border Group on the draft is clear: SUSPENDING THE RIGHT MEANS PUSHING MIGRATION INTO THE GRAY AREA. The Border Group,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[157],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n