The European Commission has expressed disapproval of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s plan to implement a “temporary territorial suspension of the right to asylum” in response to increased migration flows from Russia and Belarus since August 2021. The Commission cited Poland’s obligations under EU and international law to provide access to the asylum procedure at all times and emphasized that countering hybrid attacks and ensuring asylum rights are not mutually exclusive tasks.
Tusk’s announcement comes at a time when European governments are increasingly bold in attempts to curb irregular migration, pushing legal boundaries. International law has long recognized the right to asylum, which obligates governments to accept asylum claims, analyze them diligently, and issue reasoned decisions with the possibility of appeal. The principle of non-refoulement prohibits deporting migrants to face persecution or ill-treatment.
Tusk’s policy echoes Finland’s emergency law to combat instrumentalized migration and has been criticized by legal experts and humanitarian organizations for potentially legalizing pushbacks. Tusk also rejected the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, a sweeping reform passed by the EU after years of negotiation, emphasizing that Poland will not implement ideas posing a security threat.
Migration will be a key topic at an upcoming EU summit, with recent developments including Germany’s border controls, the Netherlands’ opt-out request, and the signing of a document by 17 countries calling for a “paradigm shift” in deportation policies for rejected asylum seekers. In 2023, the EU detected 380,000 irregular border crossings and received 1,140,000 international protection claims, with most applications originating from legal channels.
Source
Photo credit www.euronews.com