Welcome to Ukrainians fleeing war in stark contrast to Warsaw’s treatment of other migrants and refugees, says UN special rapporteur.
Polish authorities must stop detaining migrants near the Belarusian border and put an end to the “very different” treatment of Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian refugees, the United Nations special rapporteur on migrants’ rights has said.
Felipe Gonzalez Morales on Thursday commended the actions of Polish authorities and citizens who have provided shelter and assistance to more than two million Ukrainian refugees and housed them in their homes since the Russian invasion began in February.
But non-Ukrainian nationals fleeing that country face difficulties in obtaining residence permits and adequate housing and have not enjoyed the same legal protections, he said.
📢@UNSR_Migration 🙏#Poland for the warm welcome from #Ukraine #Refugeesbut access to housing and accommodation for #migrants from other countries is very different. To avoid loss of life, #EU, #Poland & #Belarus must stop #setbacks & protect human rights 👉https://t.co/wJ1StvI15W pic.twitter.com/QIuVdq6I1a
— UN Special Procedures (@UN_SPExperts) July 28, 2022
Some people who fled the war are from third countries, often from the Middle East, Asia or Africa, who were studying or working in Ukraine at the time of the invasion.
“I note with concern that this double standard approach has created a sense of discrimination among third-country nationals,” Morales said in a statement after a trip to Poland and Belarus from July 12-25.
There was no immediate comment on Morales’ statement from the Polish government or Polish border guards.
Crisis on the Belarusian border
In addition to the aftermath of the war in Ukraine, Poland has faced attempts by tens of thousands of migrants and refugees to cross the border with Belarus and enter the European Union since mid-2021.
The crisis prompted Poland to set up an emergency zone, erect a steel border barrier and launch a pushback campaign. At least 20 migrants and refugees are now estimated to have died in the region’s freezing forests and moors.
Morales said these migrants and refugees, many of whom hail from the Middle East and Afghanistan, are “routinely” detained in de facto detention centers in Poland near the border, including children, in violation of international humanitarian law. He said he personally visited one of the centers and saw dozens of family members with children there.
“I have also called on Poland to use migratory detention as a last resort to end the practice of migratory detention of children,” he said in a virtual press conference.
“I call on the relevant authorities to immediately release unaccompanied children, children with their families, pregnant women and persons with mental illness to open facilities,” he said.
Poland and other EU member states have accused Belarus of creating the crisis by flying in people from the Middle East and urging them to enter the bloc illegally in revenge on Western sanctions imposed after a contentious election in the country On August 10, 2020, longtime President Alexander Lukashenko was sentenced to a sixth term in Minsk.
Minsk has denied these allegations.