Human Rights First Urges Poland to Lift Suspension on Right to Seek Asylum
New York, NY— Human Rights First today urged the Polish government to lift the suspension on people’s right to claim asylum at the Poland-Belarus border, and to stop targeting people providing humanitarian aid to asylum seekers and migrants.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the legislation is to be implemented “without a moment’s delay” after the new law suspending the right to seek asylum at the border was signed by President Andrzej Duda. The law allows Polish authorities to suspend the right to seek asylum for up to 60 days at a time. Meanwhile, the Polish authorities continue to prosecute people providing humanitarian assistance to asylum seekers and migrants near the border. Five activists are currently on trial after providing humanitarian aid to people at the Poland-Belarus border. They face serious criminal charges and sentences of up to five years in prison, and are due back in court on April 15. Many others have been harassed and detained in recent years.
“These attacks on the right to access asylum, and those who provide humanitarian aid to people at the Polish border, are part of an international onslaught against refugees,” said Eleanor Acer, Senior Director for Global Humanitarian Protection. “Poland and the European Union must not follow the example of the United States and fail to uphold fundamental, long-recognized human rights. Now, more than ever, it is critical for European states to demonstrate that human rights and the rule of law must be respected. People must not be prevented from claiming asylum, and those helping them must not be targeted for their assistance.”
Human Rights First has reported on the situation at the Poland-Belarus border for several years, detailing attacks on Human Rights Defenders providing humanitarian aid to those crossing from Belarus.
In 2022 Human Rights First gave the William D. Zabel Award to Grupa Granica, an informal network of Polish NGOs, activists, and locals at the border providing humanitarian, medical, and legal aid to migrants stranded in the forests there.
The new law comes weeks before Poland’s presidential elections on May 18. “This legislation is a blatant contravention of international law. Countries who claim to be democracies need to show they respect the rights of those claiming asylum and of the human rights defenders helping them,” said Acer.
