Polish Authorities Target Human Rights Defenders Amid Escalating Anti-Migrant Rhetoric Ahead of Presidential Election

Warsaw, Poland —A new report reveals that Polish authorities are increasingly targeting local human rights defenders (HRDs) near the Poland-Belarus border for providing life-saving humanitarian and legal aid to migrants and people seeking asylum, amid a political climate growing ever more hostile to people fleeing persecution and those attempting to help.

The report comes three days before Poland’s June 1 presidential runoff election, in which both leading candidates—Rafal Trzaskowski and Karol Nawrocki—have taken strong anti-immigration stances. Ultra-nationalist candidates further to the right received over 20 percent of the vote in the first round.

“The presidential race has further mainstreamed anti-immigration rhetoric, making it seemingly politically acceptable to vilify those seeking sanctuary from wars and conflict, and targeting those trying to help them,” said Brian Dooley, Senior Advisor at Human Rights First and author of the report. “Political hostility, rampant xenophobia, and the erosion of legal protections at the EU’s eastern border are not only harming people seeking refuge, but are criminalizing the very act of offering help.”

Since 2021, tens of thousands of people have attempted to cross from Belarus into Poland. Most are from the Middle East or Africa and are often fleeing wars, conflict and/or persecution. People attempting to come into Poland from Belarus are often met with hostility and violence by Polish border guards and other security forces.

The Polish government has currently suspended the right to claim asylum for those coming via the Belarus border.

Key findings of the report include:

• Prosecutions of HRDs: Several HRDs are currently on trial for providing food, shelter, humanitarian aid, and legal advice to migrants and asylum seekers.
• Legal and physical threats: Local HRDs report rising aggression from far-right groups and increasing fear of arrest or violence.
• Humanitarian burnout: Many HRDs say they are redirecting their work from public advocacy to direct aid and legal defense, amid burnout and declining international support.

Despite these mounting risks, human rights defenders in the region continue to provide legal, medical, and humanitarian support to those in need, filling gaps left by state failure and international disengagement. The report recommends that Poland and the international community take steps to protect HRDs working with migrants and people seeking asylum, and uphold refugee law and asylum at borders

Read the report. 

To speak with Dooley please contact press@humanrightsfirst.org.