The liberal-democratic government of Donald Tusk is continuing the strict migration policies of the previous government at the border with Belarus. Today Moday 27th of May 2024, Prime Minister Donald Tusk is expected to announce a big investment in border security, with billions of euros to strengthen Poland’s border with Belarus. This comes after new evidence from local activists about the illegal pushback of migrants by Polish authorities.
Footage from the Podlaskie Ochotnicze Pogotowie Humanitarne (POPH) shows Polish officials carrying unconscious migrants to the border fence and pushing them back into Belarus. The migrants seemed unconscious and were not given a chance to apply for asylum. These events happened on the night of May 20-21, more than five months after Tusk’s government took office. Activist groups had hoped the new government would be more accepting of asylum applications.
The NGO Grupa Granica estimates that the new government has done over 4,000 pushbacks since coming to power, based on daily data from the Polish Border Guard. Agata Kluczewska from POPH said that one of the migrants, a young woman with heart problems, is still in poor condition on the Belarusian side after being pushed back.
On May 20th 2024, Kluczewska and her colleagues were monitoring the border near Wygon in the Bialowieza forest when they saw a group of about 40 people, including minors, on the other side of the border fence. The activists communicated with the migrants and reported that several were very ill. They contacted Polish authorities, who took one man with a spinal injury to the hospital but pushed four others, including the woman in the video, back through the fence.
When Tusk’s government took office in December, many activists hoped for a new approach to the Belarusian border crisis. The coalition had criticized the previous Law and Justice (PiS) party for its handling of the situation since 2021. The Belarusian regime, with increasing help from Russia, has been directing tens of thousands of migrants to the EU’s borders over the past three years.
Prime Minister Tusk appointed Maciej Duszczyk, an expert in migration, as deputy interior minister. Duszczyk promised to end “non-humanitarian pushbacks” and set up “search-and-rescue teams” to help migrants in danger at the border. However, human rights groups like the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights say these teams might increase the number of pushbacks. Polish officials still deport migrants who are stable, regardless of their nationality, age, or asylum status.
Despite calls from activists to repeal the 2021 border regulation that claims to legalize pushbacks, the Tusk government has not made any changes. Legal experts and the Polish Ombudsman argue that the regulation is illegal under national and international law.
Prime Minister Tusk’s views on migration, favoring tighter European borders, have hardened in response to the Belarusian and Russian-led migration crisis. He has been vocal about the security threats posed by irregular migration, saying that many migrants crossing the border have Russian visas and are part of organized groups.
As the number of migrants trying to enter Poland via Belarus rises again, with daily entries reaching 200-300 in May, Tusk is set to announce an additional 10 billion zloty (about 2.3 billion euros) for border fortification. The “Eastern Shield” package aims to significantly limit potential threats from Russia as part of a broader strategy to secure Poland’s borders.