A fundamental guarantee of the security of the state and of those residing on its territory is the authority’s compliance with the law and the protection of human rights.

The migration strategy for 2025-2030 is titled “Take Back Control. Ensure Security.” However, the government is announcing measures that, in our opinion, will have the exact opposite effect – leading to more chaos and further breaking of the law at the border, which poses a threat to the security of our community. Suspending the right to asylum n is a violation of Article 18 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the Geneva Convention, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 56 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. The essence of fundamental human rights is that they should remain inviolable. By announcing the temporary and territorial suspension of the right to apply for asylum, Prime Minister Donald Tusk is making a de facto assault on human rights and halting
the process of restoring the rule of law.

Take back control – just follow the law and procedures

Our position on this issue is clear: violence and pushbacks are the opposite of control. They presuppose the removal of people to the territory of Belarus without establishing their situation, without verifying them, sometimes even without registering their data. The solution here is to use existing procedures, in accordance with national and international law, which provides a reliable process for establishing identity and individually assessing the situation of each person. In addition, experience from other borders teaches us that there is no border in the world that people cannot manage to cross in desperate search of safety. The key to regaining control is to apply the law, create legal migration routes, implement wise reception and integration policies, and coordinate between services, institutions and NGOs.

Ensure security – for all, without discrimination It is the government’s job to ensure the safety of all persons residing on Polish territory. Meanwhile, migrants – the vast majority of whom are defenseless civilians – face life and health-threatening pushbacks and experience violence, not only from Belarusian, but also from Polish services. We consider it particularly dangerous to introduce a precedent of suspending the right to apply for international protection. Given the geopolitical situation and numerous historical lessons – it is in Poland’s interest that the right to asylum be recognized by all European countries as fundamental and inviolable.

We also note with concern the rise of xenophobic sentiments in the public sphere. A direct consequence of the hateful statements of politicians is the appearance of  self-proclaimed patrols of armed militias in the forests of the Polish-Belarusian borderland, carrying out violent ‘citizens’ arrests’, or so-called ‘citizens’ patrols’ in Polish cities, whose victims are migrants.
We expect from the Polish government a migration strategy based not on ad hoc political demand, but on data, facts, research and the experience and knowledge of experts in various fields. We expect a migration strategy that is consistent with the Constitution and the principles of humanity, and that responds to current and projected social challenges. A strategy that will aim at social cohesion – that is, the integration and security of the community of all people residing on the territory of the Republic.

We therefore appeal to those in power:

– to abandon legislative work aimed at suspending the right to apply for
asylum;
– to listen to and take into account the voices of experts from the migrant,
non-governmental and scientific community in the development of the state’s
migration strategy, and especially to analyze the report of the Migration
Research Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, which is the result
of extensive public consultations commissioned by the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and aimed at providing knowledge and tools for developing a new
migration strategy. In our view, the result of this research has not been
incorporated into the government’s proposed migration strategy;
– to abandon populist rhetoric, fear management and actively counter
xenophobic and racist sentiments;
– to stop the violence and pushbacks on the Polish-Belarusian border and
ensure the safety of humanitarian aid workers.