Europe, eastern borders, Poland limits access to asylum, Hungary denies protection, Austria criticizes the reception system in the EU

ROME – A group of migrants stranded at the Polish-Belarus border in recent days have been threatened with being killed and beaten by Minsk services as Poland is still considering whether to consider their asylum claims. L’UNHCR urges the Hungarian authorities to ensure access to asylum for all those fleeing persecution and to align with their international obligations. Austrian minister calls for reform of EU asylum system.

In Poland. A group of migrants, including 13 children, have been stranded at the Warsaw-Minsk border since May 27, with authorities on both sides denying them entry. According to reports from the organizations on the spot, the Belarusian services threatened them with death, beatings or having them attacked by dogs. “As proof of intimidation, they showed the group a Congolese girl bitten by border guard dogs,” said the organization Grupa Granica. Meanwhile another body was found on 24 May in the Polish area of ​​?osiniany, bringing the total number of deaths since the beginning of the humanitarian crisis at the border to at least 45.

Political controversies on reception. On 1 June, the Polish government announced that it will not cooperate with the mandatory migrant relocation scheme proposed by the Swedish presidency of the Council of the EU. It is a system that has already proved to be ineffective and harmful, explained Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel S?k, for whom the Swedish proposal does not guarantee sufficient solidarity measures. In a meeting between Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte, Morawiecki called for joint mechanisms to deal with “the large influx of migrants from southern Europe”, including “helping people in their home countries”. Poland claims that Europe can no longer accept migrants.

The Belarusian route. Since 2021, more and more people are making their way through Belarus to join the EU. According to the German Federal Police, between July 2022 and March 2023, around 8,687 people entered Germany illegally via Minsk. “These illegal entries are part of a strategy to destabilize the EU,” said MP Andrea Lindholz, vice president of the Christian Social Union. On 30 May, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser met with her Polish counterpart to agree on strengthening border controls.

In Hungary. L’European Interest organisation reports that Viktor Orbán’s government has released hundreds of foreign human traffickers from prison to reduce overcrowding. According to data from the Hungarian Interior Ministry, the number of crimes related to human smuggling increased from 90 to 1476 between 2019 and 2022. According to the analysis by European Interest, the increase in traffickers is linked to the dismantling of the Hungarian asylum system. Asylum applications, in fact, from 2020 can no longer be presented either at the border or within the country. “In this way the government is pushing migrants into the arms of organized crime”, writes the organization, which adds: “Returning people and dismantling the asylum system does not translate into fewer refugees but more criminals”.

In Austria. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner calls for an urgent reform of the European asylum system, with particular attention to three points: reception methods in third countries, social assistance initiatives and faster procedures. NGOs are on the alert for the increase in illegal pushbacks on the German-Austrian border. In a joint statement, Pushback Alarm Austria, Border Violence Monitoring Network And Bavarian Refugee Council they explain that dozens of survivors of the Syrian war are being pushed back by German officials in the border area with Austria. Those affected have been stranded in Austria for weeks, although they had previously applied for international protection in Germany. The EU Commission has threatened Warsaw with legal action for extending Schengen border controls and has launched a formal consultation procedure against all EU states involved in this practice. “The reintroduction of border controls must remain an exception,” the Commission said in a statement. The Commission has called for the “gradual abolition” of the checks and their “replacement with alternative measures of police cooperation”.