POLAND: Situation on borders remains dire ― European Commission President visits Poland-Belarus border ― Minister of the Interior joins call for increased funding to secure EU’s eastern borders ― Government proposes draft law on access to welfare for f…

• The situation on Poland’s borders remains dire for people on the move.
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has visited Poland and other EU member states along the EU’s eastern border.
• Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Marcin Kierwiński has signed a joint letter calling for the EC to provide increased funding to strengthen the protection of the EU’s external borders.
• The Ministry of the Interior and Administration has proposed a draft law that would set stricter requirements for foreigners to access welfare benefits.
• Two court hearings against humanitarian workers who assisted people along the Poland–Belarus border have taken place on the same day in the city of Białystok.

The situation on Poland’s borders remains dire for people on the move. On 25 July, the Polish parliament voted for a 60-day extension to the temporary suspension of international protection at the country’s border with Belarus. In august, the the NGO We Are Monitoring (WAM) published a report in which it noted that the Polish government had published plans to introduce a similar suspension at the border with Lithuania. On 3 August, Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Marcin Kierwiński announced that the controls on the borders with Germany and Lithuania that had been introduced on 7 July would be extended until 4 October as they had “clearly been effective” in reducing irregular migration. According to Polish Border Guard spokesperson Katarzyna Zdanowicz, as of 28 July, the checks had resulted in 125 detentions, 62 refusals of entry into Poland and the transfer of 49 people to Lithuania under readmission agreements. The WAM report cited 234 cases of pushbacks from Poland to Belarus in July. It also noted that people on the move had experienced beatings, pepper spraying, dog attacks, forced pushbacks and denial of food and medical assistance. In addition, the Border Death Monitoring Group recorded at least four border-related deaths in July alone (102 in total).

European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen has visited Poland and other EU member states along the EU’s eastern border. She explained that the tour was intended to show “full support” for the countries that share borders with Russia and Belarus. On 31 August, von der Leyen had a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to discuss security and defence with a focus on protecting the EU’s eastern border. During a press briefing held on the Polish side of the Poland-Belarus border fence, von der Leyen acknowledged the “deliberate and cynical hybrid attacks” directed against the Polish people and reiterated the EU’s continued solidarity. She emphasised that Europe’s borders were a “shared responsibility” and called for an ongoing “sense of urgency” to respond to threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin who she described as a “predator”. For his part, Tusk stressed that the Polish government expected “all institutions and countries in Europe” to take the defence of the eastern border equally seriously. “A secure Poland, a secure border, means a secure Europe,” he said.

Together with his Estonian, Finnish, Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts, Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Marcin Kierwiński has signed a joint letter to the European Commission calling for increased funding to strengthen the protection of the EU’s external borders. In their 29 August letter, which was addressed to Commission Vice-President Henna Virkkunen and Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner, the ministers highlighted an increase in the number of drones from Russia and Belarus that are being used for smuggling and frequent airspace violations. They also emphasised the urgent need for additional EU support, particularly more drones, in order to enhance surveillance, track unauthorised activities and counter illegal or hostile drone operations.

The Ministry of the Interior and Administration has proposed a draft law that would set stricter requirements for foreigners to access welfare benefits. The move comes after President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a previous proposal that sought to prolong assistance for Ukrainian refugees. Nawrocki had argued that child benefits should only go to Ukrainians who were working in Poland. Under the new plan, which is expected to be reviewed by the government before the end of September, applicants would have to be employed and their children enrolled in school in Poland. In addition, the draft law would limit foreigners’ eligibility for the “Good Start” school-starter allowance to people in employment or covered by health insurance. It would also require monthly residency checks and personal appearances for identity applications as well as stricter verification of documents.

The draft law also includes a section relating to the status of Ukrainian refugees in Poland. It proposes to extend their temporary protection until March 2026 in line with the Council of the EU’s June 2024 decision. This would guarantee their continued legal residence, access to the labour market and use of collective housing facilities until October 2025. In addition, certain special wartime measures such as tax exemptions would also remain in force until the end of 2026. At the same time, the draft law would introduce a number of stricter rules, including expanded grounds for revoking temporary residence permits in cases of false documents or sham marriages.

On 2 September, two separate court hearings against humanitarian workers who assisted people along the Poland-Belarus border took place in the city of Białystok. According to a press release issued by the  the Grupa Granica platform the previous day, the first case involved the so-called “Hajnówka Five” – a group of five people accused of “facilitating illegal residency” after providing humanitarian aid to a family from Iraq and a man from Egypt in March 2022 – while the second involved a volunteer named Bartek who has been accused of “interfering with the duties of the Border Guard” after informing a young Somali man of his right to apply for asylum. According to Jarosław Jagura from ECRE member organisation the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, these prosecutions are “examples of the repression faced by people providing humanitarian aid” and are intended to discourage others from defending human rights.

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