The stance of the Border Group on the draft is clear:
SUSPENDING THE RIGHT MEANS PUSHING MIGRATION INTO THE GRAY AREA.
The Border Group, and we – the Nomada Association – 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.
Why?
▪️ All legal opinions – from the National Chamber of Legal Advisers, the Supreme Bar Council, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, UNHCR – 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.
▪️ 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.
▪️ 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.
▪️ 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.
▪️ 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.
▪️ 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 – processing them and issuing positive or negative decisions – what does this say about the state of the administrative system?
▪️ 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.
▪️ The bill provides that it will be the border officer – outside of any procedure – 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 – 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.
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