Image credit: Agnieszka Sadowska/AP News.
While Poland has been a prime example for all countries in taking in millions of Ukrainian immigrants, the country is unwilling to accept refugees crossing the Belarus border. But why?
In the summer of 2023, I had the pleasure of being able to discuss this issue with Dr. Dominika Pszczółkowska, a Polish political scientist and migration researcher. Instead of accepting asylum seekers from the Poland-Belarus border, Polish officials violently push them back to Belarus or make them wait by the border where they face violence and hazardous weather conditions causing many to pass away. Although this issue started under the Law and Justice Party, even now, as Poland is in Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform, the issue persists. Before October 2023, in the buildup to Tusk's election as prime minister, Tusk criticized the Law and Justice Party for their cruelty and human rights violations on the issue at hand. However, as human rights lawyer Marta Górczyńska states, "things have not changed since last summer when Human Rights First was at the border.” Regardless, Poland reports fewer illegal immigration attempts in January 2024 than in 2023. It seems as though Poland's new government has better intentions than the Law and Justice Party, but there is still a crisis at the border, and Tusk announced two weeks ago that Poland will further strengthen its border.
The Belarus–Poland border crisis involves tens of thousands of immigrants searching for better lives in the EU. Unlike the immigrants from Ukraine, these immigrants are primarily from Iraq but also from other Middle Eastern and Northern African countries; thus, they travel to Belarus, a non-EU country that borders Poland.
What complicates this situation further is that Belarus has threatened to allow mass illegal migration into the EU. Many EU leaders have accused both Russia and Belarus of engaging in "hybrid warfare" by enabling this illegal migration across their borders. In fact, Human Rights Watch accused Belarusian authorities of manufacturing the crisis and state-level mass exploitation of migrants. Furthermore, Agnieszka Legucka, from the Polish Institute of International Affairs, reported that Russia is publicizing disinformation on eastern NATO members to amplify the Russian population's support for the military. Therefore, threats from Russia and Belarus have both in part contributed to Poland's strict migration regulations, but in no way do these threats excuse the inhumane treatment migrants have faced.
However, it isn’t just Belarus’ border guards or their government who are at fault here. The inadequate food, water, and shelter for the migrants on the border are both Poland's and Belarus’ fault. Polish border guards have also treated these migrants inhumanely.
My mother grew up in Poland and amid my discussions with my mother and Dr. Pszczółkowska, both report that many Polish officials have Islamaphobic beliefs explaining why Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed and accepted, but refugees from the Middle East, also trying to escape warfare, have been rejected, treated like vermin, and have been left to starve at the border. Polish border guards and officials have been criticized for not allowing journalists, doctors, or non-governmental organizations to the border; reports suggest Polish border guards have pushed migrants back into Belarus through violence, where the migrants are victims to rape, exhaustion, and starvation. Grupa Granica, a human-rights group focused on this crisis, confirms at least 37 deaths as of February 2023 and over 300 people missing since the border crisis began. Unfortunately, there are no recent statistics.
If you are interested in learning more, I recommend these articles:
Alboth, Anna. 2023. “Hundreds of migrants fight for survival on Polish-Belarusian border.” Euronews.com. https://www.euronews.com/2023/07/07/hundreds-of-migrants-fight-for-survival-on-the-polish-belarusian-border-waiting-to-cross-i.
Daaboul, Azzam. 2023. “EU Eastern Borders: More Deaths at Poland Belarus Border as Reports of Pushbacks, Detention and Crack-down on Solidarity Continue, Council of Europe Concerned over Pushbacks and Criminalisation in Latvia | European Council on Refugees and ...” European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) |. https://ecre.org/eu-eastern-borders-more-deaths-at-poland-belarus-border-as-reports-of-pushbacks-detention-and-crack-down-on-solidarity-continue-council-of-europe-concerned-over-pushbacks-and-criminalisation-in-lat/.
Euronews.com. 2024. “Poland to tighten controls on Belarus border as Estonia warns of Russian threat to eastern Europe.” February 22, 2024. https://www.euronews.com/2024/02/22/poland-to-tighten-controls-on-belarus-border-as-estonia-warns-of-russian-threat-to-eastern.
Fernandez-Powell, Maya. 2024. “New Polish government, similar border policies.” Human Rights First, February 9, 2024. https://humanrightsfirst.org/library/new-polish-government-similar-border-policies/.
France-Presse, Agence. 2023. “Poland Says Belarus, Russia 'Organizing' New Migrant Influx.” VOA News, August 7, 2023. https://www.voanews.com/a/poland-says-belarus-russia-organizing-new-migrant-influx/7214946.html.
Pikulicka-Wilczewska, Agnieszka. 2023. “Poland rushes troops to border, Belarus denies helicopter violation.” Reuters. August 1, 2023. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/lukashenko-taunts-poland-again-over-wagner-troops-near-border-2023-08-01/.
Ptak, Alicja. 2024. “Poland publishes data on thousands of migrant "pushbacks" at Belarus border for first time.” Notes From Poland, February 7, 2024. https://notesfrompoland.com/2024/02/07/poland-publishes-data-on-thousands-of-migrant-pushbacks-at-belarus-border-for-first-time/.
RFE/RL's Belarus Service. n.d. “Poland Finishes Construction Of Wall On Belarusian Border To Keep Migrants Out.” Radio Free Europe. June 30, 2022. https://www.rferl.org/a/poland-belarus-border-wall-completed-migrants/31923263.html.
Scislowska, Monika. 2023. “Migrants with children stuck at Poland's border wall; activists say Belarus won't let them turn back.” AP News, May 28, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/migration-wall-poland-belarus-asylum-5302c816e170fa1bc9aa95d10beca716.
“Violence and Pushbacks at Poland-Belarus Border.” June 7, 2022. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/07/violence-and-pushbacks-poland-belarus-border.
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