Tusk says Poland wants to limit asylum rights

Warsaw: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday he planned to partially suspend asylum rights for irregular migrants, accusing human traffi...

Warsaw: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday he planned to partially suspend asylum rights for irregular migrants, accusing human traffickers and countries such as Russia and Belarus of abusing the system.

Tusk, who is due to present a migration policy package on Tuesday, said in a speech to his Civic Coalition movement that Poland would wage a "merciless" fight against undocumented immigrants entering the country.

"I'm saying loud and proud that our migration strategy will include the temporary suspension of the right to asylum on our territory," he said. He added he would ask the European Union to "recognise" the proposal.

"We know perfectly well how (Belarusian President Alexander) Lukashenko, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, migrant brokers and human traffickers use it," he said of the asylum system.

"The way asylum rights are being used is completely contrary to the actual essence of the right to asylum," said Tusk, a former European Council president who became premier after ousting Poland's right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party in elections last year.