Poland drastically restricts asylum procedures - border protection in focus!

Poland drastically restricts asylum procedures - border protection in focus!

Polen - Poland President Andrzej Duda signed a new law to tighten the asylum rules on March 27, 2025. This law represents an important step in Polish asylum policy and aims to strengthen border security. Duda emphasizes the need for measures to secure the limits and published an announcement on the social network X.

The law stipulates that foreigners who have joined Poland may only apply asylum in special exceptional cases within 60 days. This regulation particularly affects the eastern border with Belarus, where Poland is exposed to high migration pressure. Thousands of refugees try to overcome the heavily secured border, and are often supported by Belarusian authorities.

political background and reactions

Poland accuses Belarus and Russia of wanting to destabilize the EU through targeted migrant flows. This further fueled the political discussion about security at the borders. Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that it would make a decision on the practical implementation of the new law on Wednesday evening. In a letter to Tusk, Duda urges measures to protect the western border, which develops in the context of German plans to introduce permanent border controls and reject migrants without valid papers.

These new regulations are in accordance with a general renewal European focus on effective border security and asylum procedures, but they are controversial. EU member states are according to the

The right to asylum and subsidiary protection is laid down in Article 18 and Article 19 of the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the EU. Ultimately, the EU also offers temporary protection in mass from displaced persons, which was activated after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 to help refugees from Ukraine.