Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced plans to temporarily suspend the right to asylum as part of a new migration strategy to combat irregular migration.
During a speech at a meeting of his centre-right Civic Coalition political grouping in Warsaw, Tusk said people smugglers – aided by Belarus and Russia – were abusing the right to asylum.
Since 2021, Poland has seen a huge increase in the number of people, mainly from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, crossing into the country illegally from Belarus.
Warsaw has accused Belarus and Russia of “hybrid warfare”, directing the flow of migrants towards the European Union in a bid to destabilise the bloc. Both countries deny this.
