Migrants are routinely forced by Polish border guards to return to Belarus and reportedly beaten, stripped of their clothes and left in forests without food, shelter or medical care, according to a new report “Brutal obstacles” by Oxfam and Polish NGO Egala, published on Tuesday, the 18th of March, reports Politico.
The report describes brutal treatment of migrants at the Polish-Belarusian border, including being shot with rubber bullets, attacked by dogs and given water laced with pepper spray before being expelled.
Activists shared testimonies, including of a Syrian man who was left freezing without clothes or shoes and of a pregnant woman who needed medical care and was forced to return. Some pregnant women had miscarriages after being denied assistance, the report said.
“There is widespread and systemic violence on the Polish-Belarusian border,” says Aleksandra Gulińska, Head of Advocacy at Egala. “We keep finding people in the forest who have been forcibly expelled back to Belarus by the Polish authorities.”
In December, the European Commission allocated 52 million euros to strengthen surveillance and infrastructure on Poland’s eastern border. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Poland and other countries were facing “hybrid threats” from Belarus and Russia.
BELARUS HAS PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN STEERING MIGRANTS TO THE EU TO CREATE INSTABILITY AND STATE-CONTROLLED TRAVEL AGENCIES HAVE OFFERED THEM VISAS AND TRANSPORT.
Belarusian security forces are reportedly escorting the migrants to the Polish border, preventing them from returning.
When Donald Tusk became Prime Minister of Poland in 2023, rights groups expected a softer border policy. Instead, his government tightened controls, reintroduced exclusion zones and passed a law allowing the temporary suspension of asylum rights.
Migration remains one of the key issues ahead of Poland’s presidential elections in May.
Brussels has avoided taking direct action against the Tusk government over the crackdown on migrants at the borders, but is threatening legal action over Poland’s refusal to take in asylum seekers under the EU Migration Pact. The pact requires member states to either accept a certain number of asylum seekers or contribute to a financial solidarity mechanism.
Last week, the European Commission warned Warsaw of possible sanctions, but Poland has not changed its position.
“Poland will not implement any migration pact or the provisions of such projects that would result in Poland forcibly taking in migrants. This is definitive,” Tusk said in February, insisting that Poland was already experiencing strong migration pressure from Belarus and taking in large numbers of Ukrainian refugees.
Rights groups warn that Poland’s actions – and Brussels’ reluctance to stop them – set a dangerous precedent. They have called on the EU to stop funding Poland’s pushback policy, saying it puts lives at risk.