By 16-10-2024
Maria Pilarczyk
Human Rights and Europe Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence
Last week during the congress held by the Civic Coalition, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk announced the release of a new migration strategy for Poland which includes a contentious suspension of asylum rights for migrants coming through the Belarusian border. The announcement has caused national but also European stir, especially from the left and human rights advocates. The new strategy named “Regaining control, Ensuring security. Complex and Responsible migration strategy for Poland 2025-2030” was presented and discussed on October 15th, a crucial date of last year’s parliamentary elections that changed the balance of power in Poland and gave the parliament majority to the current coalition and Donald Tusk (Al Jazeera, 2024) .
Currently, migration has been one of the biggest but also most contested issues in Polish politics, and was an important part of Donald Tusk’s political campaign for the position of prime minister last year. This has especially been emphasised during and after the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border in 2021, when hundreds of migrants have been kept at the border, and many activists providing humanitarian help were later prosecuted for doing so (Charlish, 2024). It is also predicted to feature as an important point during the presidential elections which are to take place in May 2025.
The government claims that the comprehensive strategy is aimed at transparent and safe rules for immigration to Poland (Chancellery of the Prime Minister, 2024) However, the main controversial point of the new Resolution is the temporal and territorial suspension of asylum rights for immigrants, targeted at immigrants coming through the Belarusian border. The main concern over this new strategy is breaking the constitution and international law. Critics also highlight that it lowers human rights standards mostly by exposing migrants to violation of human rights named in the European Convention on Human Rights (News.az, 2024).
The Resolution was already approved on October 15th by the Polish council of ministers, however with disagreeing opinions from four ministers representing the leftist coalition. A prominent figure on the Polish left, Anna Maria Żukowska, has commented on the new strategy on X. She affirmed most of it, including protection of the job market, repatriation, control. However, she highlighted that the part making it impossible to even apply for an asylum was breaking the constitution and not remotely acceptable (TVN24, 2024).
These matters are to be discussed at the EU summit this week, where Ursula von der Leyen is trying to discuss the migration pact. However the Polish prime minister has already stated last week that the Polish government will not implement European ideas that compromise the security of Poland, like the migration pact (Bankier.pl, 2024). For now, the EU has reminded that Poland needs to respect the international and European obligations, including the right to asylum, however Tusk’s announcement has not been officially commented on (Słojewska, 2024).
Sources and Further Readings
Bankier.pl. (2024, October 15). Rząd przyjął strategię migracyjną. “Odzyskać kontrolę, zapewnić bezpieczeństwo.” Bankier.pl. https://www.bankier.pl/wiadomosc/Rzad-przyjal-strategie-migracyjna-Odzyskac-kontrole-zapewnic-bezpieczenstwo-8829437.html
Chancellery of the Prime Minister. (2023). Uchwała w sprawie przyjęcia dokumentu „Odzyskać kontrolę. Zapewnić bezpieczeństwo. Kompleksowa i odpowiedzialna strategia migracyjna Polski na lata 2025-2030” – Kancelaria Prezesa Rady Ministrów – Portal Gov.pl. Kancelaria Prezesa Rady Ministrów. https://www.gov.pl/web/premier/uchwala-w-sprawie-przyjecia-dokumentu-odzyskac-kontrole-zapewnic-bezpieczenstwo-kompleksowa-i-odpowiedzialna-strategia-migracyjna-polski-na-lata-2025-2030
Charlish, A. (2024, October 24). Poland’s Tusk takes coalition partners by surprise with asylum suspension plan. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/polands-tusk-takes-coalition-partners-by-surprise-with-asylum-suspension-plan-2024-10-14/
Easton, A. (2024, October 12). Poland to temporarily suspend right to asylum, PM Tusk says. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx20186mjleo
Jazeera, A. (2024, October 12). Poland to temporarily suspend asylum rights amid Belarus border tensions. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/12/poland-to-temporarily-suspend-asylum-rights-amid-belarus-border-tensions
News.az. (2024, October 12). Poland to suspend asylum rights due to rising tensions at Belarus border. News.az; News.az. https://news.az/news/poland-to-suspend-asylum-rights-due-to-rising-tensions-at-belarus-border
Słojewska, A. (2024, October 16). Unia Europejska chce wypychać migrantów poza swoje granice. Rzeczpospolita. https://www.rp.pl/dyplomacja/art41298031-unia-europejska-chce-wypychac-migrantow-poza-swoje-granice
TVN24. (2024, October 15). Strategia migracyjna Polski przyjęta – posiedzenie rządu. TVN24. https://tvn24.pl/polska/strategia-migracyjna-polski-przyjeta-posiedzenie-rzadu-st8136083
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