Poland to temporarily suspend asylum rights amid Belarus border tensions
Al Jazeera
The move aims to curb a border crisis that Warsaw says has been orchestrated by Minsk and its ally Russia.
Poland is set to temporarily suspend the right to asylum as part of a broader strategy aimed at reducing irregular migration, driven by escalating tensions with Belarus.
The Polish government accuses Belarus of facilitating the movement of migrants across their shared border.
“One of the elements of the migration strategy will be the temporary territorial suspension of the right to asylum,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday.
“I will demand this, I will demand recognition in Europe for this decision,” he told a congress held by his liberal Civic Coalition (KO) grouping, the largest member of Poland’s coalition government.
Tusk said the right to asylum was being used by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin and by people smugglers in a way that goes against the essence of the right to asylum.
