Katarzyna Przyborska: Government has changed, but migration policy has not changed. Deputy Minister Maciej Duszczyk promised that the exports would continue, and now he added that there would be an even longer barrier to which We'll spend 279 million zł. He does not promise money for officials, reeducation of demoralized border guards, doctors who will treat wounds and fractures. How can we talk about migration in order to influence the policy of the government we expected and inactive anticipate respect for human rights?
Hanna Machinska: Our expectations were great. We hoped that erstwhile the government took power on December 13, the Home Minister would say no more exports. Yet there was no clear, decisive voice from the government.
How did human rights organisations respond?
We made an appeal to the Prime Minister, in which more than 100 organisations and hundreds of individuals demanded the completion of exports. In the light of not only global law, but besides of the Polish Constitution, it is an illegal instrument. Regardless of the level on which we would like to consider the issue of exports: moral, political or legal, there is no reason to proceed the oppressive policy of the erstwhile government.
Is it right to argue human rights and national security?
Nope. This is referred to by the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU in Article 78, which requires compliance with the rule non repoulement and guarantee that asylum policies are compatible with the Geneva Convention on exile position as well as with another treaties. The Charter of Fundamental Rights in Article 19 establishes a ban on collective expulsions and the removal of persons into a country where there is simply a hazard of torture, death penalty, inhuman treatment. besides the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in many judgments, including those concerning Poland, acknowledges that exports constitute a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Other treaties, specified as the Istanbul Convention on force against Women and home Violence, oblige States to respect the rule non repoulement. The judgments of the provincial administrative courts clearly confirm the ECHR's line of case law and the aforementioned provisions of global law. By utilizing exports, we openly violate global law, due to the fact that we throw people into a dangerous country, which is Belarus. This is savagery, depriving them of their right to the procedure for granting global protection.
Who precisely are these people? How do they migrate to us?
In addition to the citizens of Belarus and Russia, to a tiny extent, Turkish citizens have been crossing the border since 2021. Cubans besides appear.
Minister Duszczyk distinguishes natural and unnatural migration. He considers it unnatural that people from Cuba, Congo, Eritrea or Somalia appear on the Polish-Belarusian border. Are we at this moment, in a globalized world, able to say that any migration is "unnatural"?
It is simply a division rather first and without any foundation. In fact, migration as specified is simply a natural phenomenon. We have met many migrants and refugees together with the Ombudsman's Group. Thousands of pages can be written about their dramatic fates. I remember a female with a baby moving out of Kong. Her husband was murdered. Does he so have reason to flee and defend himself and the child? Did Syrians and many of them carry traces of torture on their bodies have reason to search a safe place? Is this natural or unnatural migration?
What another people did you meet in the border woods?
A pregnant female who already had a baby in Poland, and in the meantime she was thrown into Belarus 4 times and pulled by Belarusian borderers. The 5th time she got through the wires, she fainted. There was no another way. You should have taken her to the hospital, it was 9 months pregnant.
Seventeen-year-old girl, breaking across the border, moving from oppression in her country. Everything was done to deny her that right, ensuring that if she reached Terespol, she would be allowed in. Her parent was in a infirmary in Hajnówka. It means that she would gotta go 100 kilometres – scope Terespol, swim the river. It is worth adding that it was located in Poland, but on the another side of the wall. We spoke late December night. She was alone in the woods, her parent was lying in a infirmary on the Polish side. Teenagers weren't allowed in.
It's no uncertainty condemning this girl to many life-threatening and health-threatening situations, to a trauma from which she will heal for a very long time, even if she gets to a safe place. And that is the action of a typical of the State.
That is why the only way to save is by courts that are starting to bring up European standards. 3 days before the elections together with representatives of the Helsinki Human Rights Foundation we had meetings with people who manage the border, and we warned that there would come a time erstwhile those who commit inhuman treatment would be responsible. In those days, the D.A. opened proceedings in the case of Usnarz. I went there. We had a list of people who were there, names and names. A 15-year-old ex-girlfriend, a severely sick woman. They drank swamp water. Cold, hungry. What have we done with the decision to safe the European Court of Human Rights? We put a truck equipped with aid so far that we wouldn't give this help.
I will quote Minister Duszczyk again: "Well, if the courts will regulation that Poland cannot defend its own borders, then I cannot realize it."
All officers acting illegally will be held responsible. The courts state further cases of inhuman treatment, violations of global law, tugs of people who were in Poland.
Duszczyk announces a gradual withdrawal from pushbacks with the extinguishing of this migration trail, but I fear that for a long time its existence will be Poland's best. The debate on the migration pact has only just begun, the arrangements are not due to enter into force until 2027, until then Poland's argument for not adopting "no 1 migrant from the pact" is exile from Ukraine and force on the Polish-Belarusian border. Human rights and judgments can go beyond political expectations that are simply different. This situation is utilized to build Poland's global strategy on migration.
It is worth pointing out the example of the Interministerial Council for the Restoration of the Law. The voice of civilian society is present in the Ministry of Justice. The parliament is having talks with NGOs. Minister Duszczyk should have strong support in activists and activists. I believe that dialog with the government is highly important. We want to aid Minister Duszczyk make fresh solutions. But the basic condition is simply a clear declaration by the Minister of Home Affairs and Administration on the liquidation of exports.
Maybe the minister is only pursuing European Union policy. But isn't there a single European policy that is just being created, and Polish experience is part of it?
EU policy is not a perfect project. After years of negotiations, a fresh pact on migration and asylum was adopted. The voice of the representatives of the committee on export matters is not heard very much. This is happening in many countries. The Commission is not implementing proceedings against them. It is unusual for her silence on the violation of the Natura 2000 regulations on the Polish-Belarusian border. This is about the Białowieża Forest, which scientists from all over Europe have been asking for. The illegality of pushbacks was stated by NZ Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović, who prepared a advice on this issue.
The Commission has actually seen all specified sensitive places in Poland, in Lithuania and in another countries that usage pushbacks in Hungary, Serbia. The European Committee on the Prevention of Torture (CPT) explicitly recognised the illegality of exports. There is so a clear European standard which should be implemented by Poland and another countries. The UN peculiar Rapporteur on the Rights of Migrants Felipe González Morales calls for the amendment of the law and the elimination of pushbacks in his study after visiting Poland and Belarus.
What about Polish society and its approach to migration?
The government is between what introduces the Union to the law and migration policy, a much further standard of proceedings by the Council of Europe against migrants and the pressures of citizens. On the 1 hand, we have an expanding opposition to migration in society, on the another hand, the voice of the activist groups, who advocate humanitarian action against migrants. Of course, much greater acceptance is shown towards Ukrainian citizens whose level of integration in Polish society is high.
There have been many studies, commissioned by various media, on the level of acceptance for refugees, migrants. It turns out that, above all, people over the age of 60, with low educational capital, from tiny towns, are more opposed to the influx of strangers than younger generations and the inhabitants of larger cities. The xenophobic propaganda of the last 8 years should besides be remembered. besides frequently in Poland there has been a large deal of opposition to strangers, especially from African countries, and export policy has gained approval of over 50% of citizens and citizens. It is so essential to take educational measures, especially in the media.
But are we isolated in Europe?
We are not isolated, but if half of Polish citizens support restrictions on migration from African countries, we undoubtedly have a problem. We see an expanding reluctance among the societies of the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden. However, in Poland we request to see demographic problems and recognise the request to increase the influx of migrants. For this, appropriate migration policies and social change are needed.
It seems that Polish politicians actually recognise that society is populist and racist, and under this image they cut their migration policy. But 2 have been out lately. research, including the More in Common Foundation, showing that it is not so bad with Polish society. That besides in smaller centres there is openness to visitors, is knowing that the migration process simply is.
It is advanced time that the government began to influence attitudes, show that these people are coming and can bring quite a few good to Poland. 1 day, 1 of the American experts said, "Get ready for the fact that at any point the face of Poland will not be a white face. We, mentally, as a society, are not prepared for this.
What else is Ukrainian refugees, what else is Congo?
I remember a shocking gathering in the Senate, organized by the Grodzki Marshal as part of the legislature Gadk project. It was a gathering of Polish and Ukrainian youth. I was delighted due to the fact that people from Ukraine said how wonderfully they were received at school. Then a young girl with dark skin got up and started crying. She said that she had never experienced specified oppression on the Polish street in Ukraine. There are many more examples of this, and the government should focus on this by building an open society. I firmly believe that the Ministry of Education will take this kind of action. due to the fact that no wall, no wire, no wire can halt migration. It is simply a natural phenomenon worldwide. Didn't we escape from Poland, break through the swamp and meet with the aid of Western countries? We were offered jobs, schools, apartments. Today, if it wasn't for civilian society, if it weren't for activists and activists at the border, these people would be thrown into space without any help.
Activists not only save lives, but make certain that migrants and refugees can find their place in Poland. And it is hard erstwhile Poland is associated with wires, tasers.
Sometimes it's just negligence, like the reluctance to get out of the car and check the location, in There was a dying girl.Mahlet Kassa.
What's the name of the state service that let Mahlet Kassie die? Her rescue was within reach, but the officers preferred to throw her out, push the border line of young people who traveled with Mahlet who wanted to save her and knew where she was. It's barbaric.
Can Poles feel safe? The government, now another, wants to build the belief that if we barrier ourselves with a higher wall, it's not going to endanger us. Meanwhile, for this “polgon”, “Afghanistan” – as the head of BBN Jacek Siewara said – officers of all services from all over Poland are brought in, and there they exercise in ruthlessness towards civilians. And then they go back to their towns. 1 can only speculate about how they will behave after specified training.
I belong to the postwar generation, but from my parents, I know the messages about what was happening in the forests where Jews were hiding, and I remember the scene erstwhile we saw 2 young men, Syrians. 1 English teacher, another computer. below the limits of unimaginable, covered with leaves. They threw themselves in our direction, they wanted to kiss our shoes. These paintings stay in memory.
I besides remember the situation erstwhile we saw people hiding in the woods. We were about to be followed by the military and WOT, so we were wondering how to do it so that we could get to these people first. due to the fact that WOT would have thrown them out right away, and our presence was a warrant that they could apply for global protection. I remember that we divided up into groups to just not give the signal we're going to. It was like any kind of game and war fun. And we didn't want to hide or transport these people. We wanted them to undergo a legal procedure.
Even a delegation with Dunja Mijatović was detained. The commandant proved to be ultimate authority.
The commandant from the capital decided to check if Mijatović and I were not on the “black list”. 1 of the soldiers held a camera to my face, recorded and laughed. If he did this to us, how will he treat another citizens, specified as during a strike, demonstrations? I told the officers, ladies and gentlemen, you're breaking global law. You are breaking the European Convention. And they say: in the forest, ma'am, global law is not working and we do not have a European Convention on Human Rights here.
We besides watched the change due to the fact that these officers had compassion in them at first. 1 time, 1 of the officers told me: yesterday I came home in flip-flops due to the fact that I gave up my shoes. They gave everything, collected clothes, toys. I besides remember a celebrated household past with 5 children whose parent died. I spoke to the officers and the chief of staff says I should have locked them down in the basement where there was area for those who crossed illegally. But I couldn't, so I arranged a gathering room, extra meals.
The border residents have been surviving in the atmosphere of police and military savors for another year. Military cars do not respect velocity limits, they kill bison, they destruct the road surface.
We wanted to talk to the inhabitants of Białowieża, but the city was empty. People in the house, dogs walking around, roads driving around, uniforms. We knocked on a tiny house. We wanted to talk. We say we're from the Ombudsman's Office, but nobody's opened up to us. People are scared, they're distrustful. I feel very sorry for the people of this area. Poland was swept distant in front of them. A part of the most beautiful Poland. The business they had – cafes, restaurants, agritourism – stands empty.
Poland should be aware of what happens erstwhile there are long-term systemic inequalities. Migration policy, which includes physical and intellectual mutilation of people, builds specified inequality. How do we convince politicians to change course?
There is simply a deficiency of a clear message on which the government has proposals for solutions and on the way of reaching them. I know migration policy is hard to plan within a month, but directions can be determined. Without this, we will stay in chaos and the burden of action will remainder on the shoulders of people surviving in border towns, activists, NGOs. And we request a state and its institutions to make a fresh beginning in migration policy and which will clearly cut off from oppressive methods at the border. We are waiting for a declaration by a government that will make changes to the law and which will explicitly declare a ban on pushbacks. We would like the power of the state institutions to be a law that full respects global regulations and the Polish constitution.
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Hanna Machinska – lawyer and academic teacher, doctor of legal science. From 1991 to 2017, she was the manager of the Council of Europe Office in Warsaw, from 2017 to 2020 she was the Deputy Ombudsman.
