Since 2021, Poland has faced a migration crisis at its eastern frontier with Belarus, which Warsaw and the EU have said is the result of a “hybrid war” orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow to destabilize the EU.
Poland claims that Belarus and its ally Russia are responsible for funneling people from the Middle East and Africa to its eastern border, after luring them with promises of easy access to Europe’s passport-free Schengen zone.
In mid-June, Poland established a 60-km
buffer zone on its border with Belarus in an attempt to stem the inflow of irregular migrants.
On December 10, 2024 the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration extended the exclusion zone for another 90 days.
Poland’s Deputy Ombudsman, Valeri Vachev, wrote a letter to Maciej Duszczyk, a deputy minister of the interior, highlighting the ombudsman’s office’s concerns regarding the operation of the buffer zone.
He wrote: “Understandably, ensuring security on the border is a priority, however, it is also necessary for the restrictions to be introduced in... a relevant form and... with respect for the rights and freedoms of persons affected by those measures.”
Vachev mentioned the ombudsman’s reservations that the regulation establishing the buffer zone could potentially infringe upon basic constitutional rights, including the freedoms of movement, residence, assembly, information access and dissemination, as well as the right to conduct business.
In Vachev’s opinion, there was no indication that the regulation reduced the number of irregular border crossings from Belarus to Poland, but made it more difficult to provide
humanitarian help to migrants stranded in the buffer zone along the border.
As the regulation was introduced on the grounds of continued migration pressure on Poland’s border with Belarus and aggressive behaviour of irregular migrants towards Polish law enforcement officers, Vachev asked the ministry to provide the number of such incidents recorded in the border buffer zone between September 11 and December 9, 2024.
He also requested that the ministry reveal the number of permits to enter the buffer zone, with special regard to those issued to journalists as well as individuals and organisations providing humanitarian aid.
