Tusk Says Poland Wants to Limit Asylum Rights

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday he planned to partially suspend asylum rights for irregular migrants, accusing human traffickers and countries such as Russia and Belarus of abusing the system.

Tusk, who is due to present a migration policy package on Tuesday, said in a speech to his Civic Coalition movement that Poland would wage a "merciless" fight against undocumented immigrants entering the country.

"I'm saying loud and proud that our migration strategy will include the temporary suspension of the right to asylum on our territory," he said.

He added he would ask the European Union to "recognize" the proposal.

"We know perfectly well how (Belarusian President Alexander) Lukashenko, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, migrant brokers and human traffickers use it," he said of the asylum system.

"The way asylum rights are being used is completely contrary to the actual essence of the right to asylum," said Tusk, a former European Council president who became premier after ousting Poland's right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party in elections last year.

"We are not going to respect or apply any European idea that ... hinders our security. I'm thinking here of the (EU) migration pact."

Poland, a NATO and European Union member, accuses Russia and Belarus of orchestrating a flood of asylum seekers migrants in a "hybrid" attack to destabilize Europe, an accusation Lukashenko's government denies.

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In May, Poland announced it would spend more than €2.3 billion ($2.5 billion) to reinforce its border with Belarus, the EU's eastern flank.

Poland and the Czech Republic called on Wednesday for tougher EU migration restrictions than those in the bloc's new pact on migration and asylum, which is due to come into force in 2026.

Both countries have seen an influx of refugees from the war in Ukraine.

They have called for a "very serious debate" on migration to the EU, starting with a European Council meeting next week.

According to Amnesty International: "Seeking asylum is a human right. This means everyone should be allowed to enter another country to seek asylum."

"The people are not the problem," the rights group says on its website. "Rather, the causes that drive families and individuals to cross borders and the short-sighted and unrealistic ways that politicians respond to them are the problem."