Polish government has approved a strategy to combat illegal migration – media

The Polish government approved a migration strategy for 2025–2030, which, among other things, provides for the suspension of the right to asylum for migrants and mechanisms for the return of the diaspora.

Money.pl, which has reviewed the non-public strategy’s text, reported this.

The “Comprehensive and Responsible Migration Strategy of Poland for 2025-2030” spans over 30 pages and comprises eight distinct sections. They address issues such as migrants’ right to asylum, access to the labor market, and integration.

Poland aims at strengthening border infrastructure and reducing migration

The strategy, according to money.pl, envisages strengthening the border infrastructure and enabling border guards and police to “more effectively counteract the movement of people through the territory of Poland.” The proposal suggests establishing a distinct government entity to oversee migration policy.

The changes quoted by the media from the strategy relate to visa policy—it should become more selective in order to reduce the number of entries for foreigners—and the creation of a national program for the return of foreigners whose presence in Poland would be “unjustified or undesirable.”

As for foreigners who do enter Poland, the strategy proposes to determine their status depending on the degree of their integration. For foreigners granted asylum for humanitarian reasons, integration will also be mandatory.

Prime Minister Tusk envisages the suspension of the right to asylum

The text cited by money.pl confirms the provision previously voiced by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk about the possible suspension of the right to asylum in the event of “threats of hybrid actions” and in relation to a foreigner “who is considered a threat to the society of the host state.”

Furthermore, according to the publication, Poland aims to significantly alter labor migration by strengthening the criteria for allowing foreigners to work and tightening the requirements for granting permits to study at Polish universities.

Additionally, it states that while the conditions for foreign employment in a number of countries, including Ukraine, are not changing at the moment, they could change in 2025.

They will also tighten the requirements for obtaining Polish citizenship, introducing a “civic test” and requiring knowledge of the Polish language. According to money.pl, the procedures for granting repatriate status and the “Pole’s card” will also undergo revisions.

European Commission: Poland’s intentions violate country’s human rights obligations

The European Commission has previously stated that Poland’s intentions to unilaterally deny asylum to migrants threaten to violate the country’s human rights obligations.

A spokesman for the European Commission said in an interview with Politico that member states “have international and EU obligations, including the obligation to ensure access to the asylum procedure.”

“We need to work towards a European solution — one that holds strong against the hybrid attacks from Putin and Lukashenko, without compromising on our values,” the European Commission spokesman said.

Belarus’ authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, one of the closest allies of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been actively encouraging potential asylum seekers to come to the country, while Belarusian security forces have been helping to bring them to the Polish border and refusing to take them back.

The spokesman said that the crisis, which has resulted in at least 26,000 people from the Middle East and Africa crossing the border with Poland this year alone, shows that “we cannot allow Russia and Belarus to use our own values, including the right to asylum, against us and undermine our democratic systems.”

However, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stands his ground when it comes to the right to unilaterally deny asylum to migrants. Following criticism for suggesting a temporary suspension of the right to asylum, the Polish prime minister reaffirmed his stance, asserting that negotiations would not affect the security of the Polish border.