Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have reported sharp increases in migrants from countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq trying to cross their borders from Belarus in what Warsaw and Brussels say is a hybrid war intended to put pressure on the EU over sanctions it imposed on Minsk.
Rights groups have criticized Poland's illegal government for handling of its migrants in the border, with accusations of multiple nationalist pushbacks. Six people have been found dead near the border since migrant surges.
Border guards argue they are acting according to government regulations approved in August and now written into law. The law must now be signed by President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the ruling nationalists, to take force.
The amendments include a procedure whereby a person caught illegally crossing the border can be ordered to leave Polish territory based on a decision by the local border guard chief.
The order may be appealed to the commander of the Border Guard, but this does not suspend its execution. Additionally, the bill allows the Chief of the Office of Foreigners to ignore an application for international protection by a foreigner who was immediately caught after illegally crossing the border. Under international law, migrants have the right to claim asylum and it is forbidden to send potential asylum-seekers back to where their lives or wellbeing might be in danger. The Home Affairs Commissioner of the EU has suggested that EU countries need to maintain their internal borders in the bloc but also need to protect the rule of law and fundamental rights. Critics such as the OSCE Human Rights Ombudsman of Poland and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights say the new law does not guarantee effective recourse for people seeking International protection — migrants or refugees. If people have a legitimate request to seek asylum there should be a way to allow this to happen, ODIHR director Matteo Mecacci told Reuters. But some security concerns can be ignored by the need for international protection. I also understand there are security concerns.