Photo credit: Politico
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced plans to suspend the right to asylum in the country temporarily.
BBC reports that he announced this at his centre-right Civic Coalition political grouping meeting in Warsaw. He said people smugglers were abusing the right to asylum.
Poland has seen a huge increase in migrants, mainly from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, since 2021. Most of them cross into the country illegally through Belarus.
It has accused Belarus and Russia of “hybrid warfare”, directing the flow of migrants towards the European Union in a bid to destabilize the bloc, but both countries have denied this.
The migration crisis began in August 2021.
Tusk said, “One of the elements of the migration strategy will be the temporary territorial suspension of the right to asylum. I will demand this, and I will demand recognition in Europe for this decision.”
Under international law, countries must offer people the right to claim asylum.
Many of the migrants who cross into the country from Belarus do not stay. They cross into Germany instead, which has prompted Germany to introduce checks on its border with Poland.
