Poland will temporarily bar refugees from claiming asylum in the country after crossing the border from neighboring Belarus, amid warnings that Russia and its allies are using migrants to try to destabilize the EU. Human rights watchdogs at the Polish-Belarusian border have called out Poland’s new migration strategy as a blatant violation of fundamental rights. The temporary suspension of the right to asylum in Poland poses an alarming threat and jeopardizes the Rule of Law. It is clear that such a policy will disproportionately impact people from racialized backgrounds, who already face increased violence and discrimination at Poland’s borders, amplifying existing injustices and inequalities in access to international protection.

We along with 64 organizations and ten MEP call on President Ursula Von der Leyen to block Polish asylum suspension and take a decisive and unequivocal stand against this plan that undermine fundamental rights which are by nature inviolable.