NGOs Urge Poland’s Prime Minister to Cease Border Pushbacks with a Unified Petition

A call to end the systematic practice of pushbacks along Poland’s borders has been made by 101 non-governmental organizations, including the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) member organizations. The petition, addressed to the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, aims to put an end to the “gross violations of migrants’ rights” along the Poland-Belarus border.

The pushback policy has resulted in at least 55 deaths along the Polish-Belarusian border since the crisis began. Despite this, the Deputy Minister of the Interior and Administration in Poland, Maciej Duszczyk, has stated that pushbacks will continue to “secure the border” with an added focus on humanitarian aspects.

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However, a report from the Polish Border Guard revealed that the border wall between Belarus and Poland failed to prevent more than 60% of irregular crossings. This resulted in more than 30,000 people reaching Poland from Belarus in the first nine months of the previous year, with at least 13,000 using Poland as a transit country to reach Germany.

To address the increasing number of migrants, Poland has spent nearly €400 million on a physical barrier along 186 of the nearly 400 kilometres of the border it shares with Belarus. Prime Minister Tusk has also stated that Poland will refuse to accept any relocated asylum seekers under the EU’s new migration pact.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen proposed a new EU Pact in September 2020 to establish clear rules for all EU Member States to share the same responsibility when it comes to migration. However, Tusk has reiterated Poland’s stance, stating that the country “will not accept a single migrant” and “will never be part of such a mechanism.”

The matter will undergo further discussions before requiring final approval by the European Council. This ongoing debate reflects the challenges and complexities surrounding the migration situation in Europe.