Poland urges EU to deny asylum after violent border crossings
Poland plans to propose that the European Union deny international protection to migrants who illegally cross EU borders in organised groups using violence or damage border infrastructure. This was reported by Notes from Poland.
Poland’s Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszczyk, who is responsible for migration policy, said that the initiative would concern depriving people of the right to international protection if they illegally crossed the border as part of organised groups, used violence or destroyed border protection equipment.
Proposal concerning the Refugee Convention
According to RMF, at a European Council meeting next month, Warsaw intends to propose an expanded interpretation of Article 33 of the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. This article enshrines the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning or expelling refugees to countries where their lives or freedom are at risk.
At the same time, the article contains an exception: the principle does not apply if there are reasonable grounds to consider a refugee a threat to the security of the country of residence, or if they have been convicted of a crime and pose a danger to the society of that country. Poland wants to apply this provision to asylum seekers who took part in organised and aggressive border crossings.
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Restrictions on the border with Belarus
Poland has already introduced similar restrictions for people who illegally cross the border from Belarus. A temporary ban on submitting asylum applications was introduced in March 2025, with exceptions предусмотрены for certain vulnerable categories of people. It has been extended repeatedly since then.
According to the outlet, since 2021 the Belarusian authorities have encouraged and assisted tens of thousands of migrants, mainly from Asia and Africa, to cross the EU border illegally. In 2021, Poland recorded nearly 40,000 attempts to illegally cross the border from Belarus, and 30,000 in 2025. In the first half of 2026, 235 such attempts were registered.
Poland has strengthened physical and electronic barriers at the border, deployed thousands of additional personnel there and granted them broader powers to use firearms. At the same time, Poland’s human rights commission expressed concern over the duration of the formally temporary asylum ban, while some Polish courts found unlawful the actions of border guards who returned migrants to Belarus.
