Poland considers that European Commission proposal extending both the registration of asylum seekers and the processing of applications is not the help and support that Poland needs. Polish Ambassador to the EU Andrzej Sados said the response to the hybrid attack on Belarus should have been to suspend the asylum procedure, not to prolong it.
He also believes that this will lead to “overburdening” Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in processing these applications.
A step forward, but too small
The European Asylum Support Office has promised to help Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. Assistance would include application registration and processing, admission management support.
Lithuania is not as categorical as Poland regarding these EC proposals – Asta Skaisgirīte, an adviser to the President of Lithuania, has said that these proposals are not bad, but they are insufficient. This is a step forward, but Lithuania would like to see more involvement of EU institutions in crisis management.
The Ambassador of Latvia to the European Union, Lelde Līce-Līcīte, also acknowledged that Latvia’s position is closer to Lithuania’s position – this is the right solution, but it is not enough in such a crisis situation;
Poland could forcibly repatriate migrants to Iraq
The EC proposal has also been criticized on the other side and for very different reasons: it has angered humanitarian organizations and left-wing parties. They believe that the European Commission has simply succumbed to Poland and other supporters of the migration stalemate.
Syrian asylum seeker with poster “I am seeking asylum in Poland”
Foto: AP, Michal Kosc
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The general secretary of the human rights organization Amnesty International said that it was not a big crisis, but that the infrastructure of the rule of law, which had been built in recent years, was being destroyed piece by piece.
According to EC data, about 8,000 migrants from Belarus are in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, and about 10,000 have already reached Germany. There are still around 7,000 migrants in Belarus (according to a UN agency) and 2,000 have been sent back to Iraq. It is unofficially known that the repatriation of migrants to Iraq is also being considered, rather than voluntarily.
CONTEXT:
In the summer of 2021 the number of migrants increased significantly, which is trying to enter the territory of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland illegally from Belarus. Most migrants are arrived from Iraq.
Officials in the Baltic States and Poland pointed out that the Belarusian authorities deliberately do not obstruct the crossing of the borderto punish these countries for supporting the Belarusian opposition and sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.
The European Union will do so described as the deployment of hybrid warfare and promises to help strengthen the EU’s external border.
On November 8, a large group of migrants gathered at the Belarusian border with Poland, trying to enter the territory of the European Union, but Poland refuses to allow these people because they believe that they are not refugees, but “tourists” who have come to Belarus voluntarily.
The Latvian government from August 11 declared a state of emergency on the border with Belarus, later on extended until 10 February. Latvia also plans to speed up Latvian-Belarusian border infrastructures construction.
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