Poland's leader defends his decision to suspend the right to asylum
Human and civil rights groups are expressing concern after Poland's leader said he would suspend the right to asylum because of its alleged abuse by eastern neighbors Belarus and Russia
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Monday defended a plan to suspend the right to asylum as human rights and civil society organizations argued that fundamental rights must be respected.
Poland has struggled since 2021 with migration pressures on its border with Belarus, which is also part of the European Union's external border.
“It is our right and our duty to protect the Polish and European border,” Tusk said on X. “Its security will not be negotiated.”
Successive Polish governments have accused Belarus and Russia of organizing the mass transfer of migrants from the Middle East and Africa to the EU's eastern borders to destabilize the West. They view it as part of a hybrid war that they accuse Moscow of waging against the West as it continues its nearly three-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
