The Polish government on Tuesday adopted the new immigration policy designed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which includes the temporary suspension of the right to asylum to “regain control” of its borders, particularly that which it shares with Belarus. After the meeting of the Council of Ministers, Tusk declared on his account of the social network difficult decision, but very necessary and expected”which aims to “regain control” and “ensure security” of Polish borders.
As the liberal politician already announced on Saturday, they will apply new guidelines for entry and stay in the territory Poles when applying for asylum. Soon, some regulations governing access to the labor market and public services, such as education and health, will be amended, and laws will be amended to speed up repatriation processes for people in an irregular situation.
To do this, the law on the protection of foreigners will be reformed, with changes that will remain valid until 2030. This movement comes just before the European summit where the migration issue will be on the table. The protectionist and conservative turn also occurred when, from the first year of the legislature, a coalition which brought together more than a dozen parties with ideologies ranging from the progressivism of the left to the conservatism of the PSL, and which had its center of gravity in The liberal-oriented Tusk Civic Platform.
The Polish government justifies this decision by “hybrid warfare” which he claims to be confronted with on the border with Belarus, where a migration crisis broke out a few years ago during which successive waves of violence and massive attempts to attack the border wall with periods of little illegal activity.
Tusk assured that pwill send to Brussels “recognition of this decision“Well, we all know how (Belarusian President Alexander) Lukashenko, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and human traffickers use the right to asylum.” EU protect external bordersnotably from Russia and Belarus, but also reminded Warsaw that Member States “have the obligation to guarantee access to asylum procedures”.
Tusk, who rejects the European Union (EU) migration pact, assured that what Poland plans to do This is no different from what Finland already does, for example. since last May, and affirms that “the right to asylum is being used in this war and has nothing to do with human rights”.
The measure taken by the Tusk government generated a wave of controversy inside and outside the country, and experts point out that the Polish plan could have the opposite effect than desired and further weaken the already fragile European agreement on migration.
Nearly 50 humanitarian organizations National and international organizations, including Amnesty International (AI) and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, signed a manifesto addressed to Tusk asking him to step back and not shirk one of the fundamental duties of any democratic state. They warn that refusing to protect people in difficulty will produce nothing more than “an illusory sense of security.”
For his part, the former Minister of Defense of the previous ultra-conservative government, Mariusz Blaszczak, described “deception, smokescreen” the turning point in the immigration policy of Tusk, member of the European People’s Party (EPP). He assured that “the real problem (…) is the (European) pact on migration, a problem created by EU oligarchs”and revived the proposal to organize a national referendum on Community immigration policy.
Poland, which has already been the subject of a counterclaim on several occasions by the European Court of Human Rights and who was singled out in a special UN report on migration for having carried out “hot returns” to the Belarusian border and for not having responded to requests asylum, has for years made migration one of the subjects that arouse the most emotions in society.
In Poland, migration is considered a question of national security, more than economic, even ethical, and the outbreak of the Russian war in neighboring Ukraine, which caused the arrival of a million and a half refugees, as well as the permanent tension on the Belarusian border, are considered proof that ‘In these times of turbulence, the laws must be different from those in times of peace.
