Poland Adopts Law to Suspend Right to Asylum
19th December 2024
The Polish government of Donald Tusk has adopted a draft law that would allow the country to temporarily suspend the right to claim asylum. The prime minister said the right to asylum “is being used today—especially on the border with Belarus—by Poland’s enemies,” and that by adopting the bill “we are taking back control of Poland’s borders.”
The bill has been in the works for a while, and is intended as a response to actions of neighbouring Belarus: the country has been flying in migrants from the Middle East and Africa in recent years, and sending them to the borders of the EU—Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania—in a bid to destabilise the region. Those three EU member states have accused Russia of complicity.
The number of migrants arriving at the borders of EU member states from Belarus has increased by 66% this year, compared with 2023. In Poland, 28,000 attempted illegal crossings were recorded by the end of October. The EU says 90% of migrants illegally crossing the Poland-Belarus border have a Russian student or tourist visa.