101 NGOs and 550 individuals have appealed to the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, to immediately end the policy of pushbacks on the Polish-Belarusian border.
Pushbacks have been used systemically since 2021, when the humanitarian crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border began. They involve the forced return of migrants to Belarus, where they face violence, torture, inhumane treatment and deprivation of liberty. The signatories of the petition pointed out that, due to the situation in Belarus, pushbacks violate the principle of non-refoulement, i.e. the prohibition of returning a person to a country where they may be in danger. At least 55 people have lost their lives on both sides of the border as a result of the anti-refugee pushback policy.
Among the migrants pushed back to Belarus are chronically ill people, people with disabilities, families with children, the elderly, and people with experience of violence and torture in their countries of origin. The policy of pushback prevents them from applying for international protection in Poland, which is a direct violation of the right to asylum, guaranteed, inter alia, by the Polish Constitution.
The authors of the petition emphasise that the practical elimination of pushbacks is straightforward, calling for the following actions: changing the official practice of Border Guard officers by issuing written instructions to the Commander-in-Chief of the Border Guard by the Ministry of Interior and Administration and monitoring the implementation of the instructions, repealing the Ordinance of the Minister of Interior and Administration of 13 March 2020 on temporary suspension or restriction of border traffic at certain border crossings (as amended on 20 August 2021), amending the Act on Foreigners by repealing Art. 303(1)(9a) and Article 303b of the Act.
The signed organisations and individuals include both entities directly involved in the provision of humanitarian assistance in the borderland, as well as committed private individuals, including lawyers, people of science and culture. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, as an organisation monitoring human rights violations in the borderland since 2021, has also signed the petition.
