Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Poland intends to temporarily discontinue the right to asylum as part of a strategy to restrict illegal migration amidst tensions with Belarus, which Warsaw blames for channelling migrants across its border.
During a congress of his liberal Civic Coalition group, Tusk stressed the urgent need for European recognition of Poland’s decision, highlighting the role of President Alexander Lukashenko and President Vladimir Putin in allegedly staging migratory movements across Poland’s borders.
How does Poland plan to tackle illegal migration?
“One of the elements of the migration strategy will be the temporary territorial suspension of the right to asylum,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated.
“I will demand this, I will require recognition in Europe for this decision. This is because we understand very well how it is used by (Belarusian President Alexander) Lukashenko, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin… by people smugglers, people traffickers, how this right to asylum is used exactly against the nature of the right to asylum,” he said during a congress held by his liberal Civic Coalition (KO) group, the biggest member of Poland’s coalition government.
How has the migration issue escalated since 2021?
Migration has been elevated on the agenda in Poland since 2021, when big numbers of people, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, began trying to illegally cross the border with Belarus in what Warsaw and the European Union expressed was a crisis orchestrated by Minsk and its partner Russia. Russia and Belarus have disavowed responsibility.
Tusk stated he would present the migration plan at a government session on Oct. 15, the first anniversary of the election which brought the alliance he leads to power. Since taking office in December 2023, Tusk has followed a tough policy towards migration, a technique which has won broad public support but which has bothered activists who had hoped he would leave the previous, nationalist administration’s approach.
