CIVICUS discusses Poland’s new migration control strategy with Marcin Sosniak, coordinator of the Migration Unit at the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR), a civil society organisation working to protect human rights in Poland and Eurasia.
As far-right parties gain ground across Europe, so do anti-migrant policies. Although the number of migrants entering the European Union (EU) is falling, the European Commission is responding to political pressure by preparing new legislation to make deportations easier and allow states to close their borders if they claim security reasons. Poland’s new migration strategy includes restrictions on the right to apply for asylum for migrants from Belarus and Russia, with the government claiming Russia promotes migration to destabilise western government.