Poland Suspends Illegal Immigrants From Claiming Asylum

Poland said Russia and Belarus were orchestrating a crisis by enabling thousands of Middle Eastern and African migrants to cross its eastern border.

Border guards patrol on all-terrain vehicles along the wall at the Poland–Belarus border in northeastern Poland on June 8, 2022. Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images

Polish President Andrzej Duda signed into law on March 26 a bill that will suspend illegal immigrants’ right to claim asylum.

“I believe that it is necessary to strengthen the security of our borders and the security of Poles,” Duda said, when announcing the law.

“The most important thing is to defend the Polish border and the Polish services that guard it.”

The new legislation introduces temporary restrictions of up to 60 days on the right to submit an application for international protection for those who have crossed the border into NATO and European Union member states illegally.

On social media platform X, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the government will adopt the law “without a moment’s delay.”

In February, Human Rights Watch claimed that the law violates “the binding obligation on EU member states under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU to ensure the right to asylum.”

The international organization said exceptions are made in the law for vulnerable people, including unaccompanied children, pregnant women, those who require special treatment because of their age or health, Belarusian citizens, and anyone who can “unequivocally prove they are at risk of suffering serious harm” if returned to Belarus.

It added that it believed that the commission would be able to initiate legal action—infringement proceedings—against Poland for violating EU asylum law.

The Polish government has adopted an increasingly tough line on illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers since 2021.

Tens of thousands of men, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, have attempted to illegally cross the Poland–Belarus border.

Both Warsaw and Brussels claim that this is a manufactured crisis orchestrated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow and Minsk have denied any responsibility.

According to preliminary data published by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) on Jan. 4, there were 17,001 recorded crossings in 2024 via the Eastern Borders route.

This represented a 192 percent increase from the previous year.

Most are young men, often from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia.

Some 13,000 border guards and soldiers protect 400 kilometers (about 249 miles) of border, with steel barriers strung with razor wire and topped by security cameras.

Drones, helicopters, and armored vehicles keep watch.

Polish authorities say immigrants arrive in Belarus on tourist or student visas and are helped across the border for a fee ranging from $8,000 to $12,000.

Authorities say they’re assisted by the Belarus security services and other “organizers.”

According to Polish officials, about 90 percent of the illegal immigrants at Poland’s border have Russian visas.

In May 2024, a Polish soldier was stabbed by a would-be illegal immigrant and died the following month from his injuries.

Officials said the attacker reached across the bars of the more than 5-meter (about 16-foot) high metal wall separating Poland and Belarus and stabbed the soldier in the ribs.

Polish security forces were not able to detain the attacker because he was on the Belarus side of the barrier, they said at the time.

Finland Wants to Extend Ban

Poland is not alone in its response to pressure related to illegal immigration.

Finland’s government asked parliament to extend until the end of 2026 a law that allows it to reject asylum applications from illegal immigrants crossing its closed eastern border with Russia and to send them back, it said on March 27.

NATO member Finland has also accused Russia of weaponizing migration.

“The threat of instrumentalized migration at Finland’s eastern border remains high and unpredictable,” Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said in a statement.

The current emergency legislation was approved for a year in July 2024 and is set to expire on July 21.

It was part of the government’s response to more than 1,300 illegal immigrants from countries such as Syria, Iraq, and Yemen entering Finland from Russia in 2023. Finland also closed its borders with Russia indefinitely last year.

In 2024, only eight people crossed that border illegally after January, Interior Ministry data show.

The Associated Press, Reuters, and Guy Birchall contributed to this report.