Amazing how we just elected the “lesser evil” liberals to stop exactly such things (among others) from happening, but i guess i should expect this to happen after the same people racist outbreak during the EU debacle about Syrian refugees and with how russophobia (actually its derivation, belarussophobia in this case) is still the absolute cornerstone of entire 3rd RP existence and is frying brains no matter of political allegiance.

Poland’s parliament has approved a bill allowing the government to suspend the right to claim asylum for people who cross the border irregularly as part of the “instrumentalisation of migration” by a foreign state.

The measure has been criticised as a violation of European and international law by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. But it received overwhelming support from Polish MPs in both the ruling coalition and the opposition.

The 386 votes in favour in the 460-seat Sejm, the more powerful lower house of parliament, included all or the vast majority of MPs from the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), centre-right Polish People’s Party (PSL) and centrist Poland 2050 (Polska 2050), which are part of the ruling coalition.

They were joined by all or most MPs from the two main right-wing opposition parties: the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) and the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja).

Only 38 MPs voted against it, mainly from The Left (Lewica), which is part of the ruling coalition, and Together (Razem), a small left-wing party.

The bill now passes to the upper-house Senate, which can delay but not block legislation, then on to President Duda, a PiS ally, who can sign it into law, veto it, or pass it to the constitutional court.

Poland received a record number of asylum claims last year amid a renewed crisis at the Belarus border, where since 2021 tens of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers – mainly from the Middle East, Asia and Africa – have been trying to cross with the help and encouragement of the Belarusian authorities.

In response, Prime Minister Donald Tusk proposed in September a tough new migration strategy, including allowing the temporary and partial suspension of the right to claim asylum. Those measures were subsequently approved by his government in December.

The bill approved by the Sejm this evening would enact parts of Tusk’s strategy by amending the asylum law to introduce a new term into Poland’s legal lexicon: “instrumentalisation of migration.”

That is a phrase regularly used by Polish and other European authorities to describe the deliberate manner in which Belarus and Russia have used migrants and asylum seekers in an attempt to destabilise EU countries.

Under the Polish bill, the interior ministry would be empowered to temporarily restrict the right to claim international protection if instrumentalisation of migration is taking place, if it “constitutes a serious and real threat to security”, and if the restriction of asylum rights is necessary to counter the threat.

The legislation also specifies that the government’s actions must “aim to limit the rights of foreigners intending to apply for international protection to the least possible extent”, reports news and analysis website OKO.press.

Moreover, certain categories of people must be allowed to claim asylum even if the measures are in place, including minors, pregnant women, people who require special healthcare, people deemed at “real risk of harm” if returned over the border, and citizens of the country that is carrying out the instrumentalisation.

An amendment accepted today by parliament before the bill was passed allows an entire group that includes minors – such as a family – to submit an asylum claim. Previously, only the minors would have been allowed to.

The interior ministry’s regulation implementing the suspension of asylum rights must define the area in which it will apply and how long it will apply for (up to 60 days, after which it can only be renewed with the approval of the Sejm).

Tusk has argued that the measures are necessary because existing asylum rules were not designed to accommodate the deliberate instrumentalisation of migration by hostile states.

However, human rights groups have declared the measures to violate not only international law but Poland’s own constitution. They also say it will cause real harm to vulnerable asylum seekers, who will face being pushed back over the border into Belarus.

Well over 100 people are believed to have died around the borders between Belarus and EU member states since the beginning of the crisis in 2021.