Poles gathered outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Warsaw on Tuesday to protest against Donald Tusk’s recent proposal to suspend the right to asylum for migrants entering Poland.
Marta Lempart of the All-Polish Women’s Strike called the suspension of the right to asylum “pure populism.” She believed that a better solution would be to create a system that would effectively check the identity of all those entering Poland. The activist pointed out that the main flow of migrants is transferred from Poland to Germany. These are thousands of people who enter Poland without going through any checks.
Obywatele RP leader Paweł Kasprzak emphasised the ineffectiveness of the pushback policy. He said:
We have a 100 per cent guarantee that the person – if only he survives torture – will come back and try again [to get into Poland].
Filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, author of the film Green Border, also took part in the action. Addressing about 100 protesters outside the Prime Minister’s office in the centre of Warsaw, sahe said:
We are disappointed and angry with the Tusk government.
Last week, Tusk unveiled a new migration strategy under the slogan “Regain control – ensure security.” A key aspect of the policy includes the temporary suspension of asylum rights following an influx of non-European migrants crossing Belarus’ border with Poland this year.
An EU Commission spokesman warned that Tusk’s plans could “violate the country’s human rights obligations,” especially with regard to international treaties and standards governing asylum and refugee rights.
Polish human rights groups also voiced strong opposition to Tusk’s comments. Janina Ochojska, founder of Polish Humanitarian Action and a former MEP from Tusk’s party, sharply criticised the proposal in an interview with the news outlet Onet. She asked:
If the Prime Minister announces something like this, it means that he is also suspending the Geneva Convention, the Convention on Human Rights and many other conventions and laws. Does this mean that they will not apply in Poland?
Ochojska added that she “feels cheated” by the government’s new migration strategy, warning that it will lead to “the destruction of many people’s lives.” She also criticised the government for ignoring the views of those who work directly with migrants. Ochojska suggested:
I would organise legal crossings at the border, where people could come, submit an application, be interrogated.
A coalition of 60 non-governmental organisations, including Amnesty International and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, also condemned the new strategy. In an open letter, the NGOs emphasised that fundamental rights and freedoms are not subject to political bargaining. The letter said:
It is thanks to them that thousands of Polish women and men found shelter abroad in the difficult times of communist totalitarianism.
With presidential elections looming next year, Tusk has hinted that migration will be a central focus of his campaign, promising to reduce illegal migration to a “minimum” and “restore 100 per cent control over who enters and leaves Poland.”
However, there were also concerns within Tusk’s coalition government. Szymon Holownia, speaker of parliament and leader of the centre-right Poland 2050 party, distanced himself from Tusk’s remarks, arguing that Tusk was speaking only on behalf of his party.
“We are of the opinion that the right to asylum is “sacred” in international law,” Holownia said on social media. Krzysztof Smiszek of the Left, another coalition member, echoed these concerns.
