The ECHR has banned the expulsion of migrants who have entered Poland back to Belarus

The European Court of Human Rights has banned the expulsion of migrants who have already entered Poland back to the territory of Belarus, it says in the relevant court decision.

In the period from 20 August to 3 December 2021, the ECHR examined a total of 47 applications filed by 198 applicants, with a request to ensure a safe stay in the territory of the European Union. Most of them (44) were filed against Poland, two more against Latvia, one against Lithuania. “In most of the applications where the applicants claimed that they were in Poland and asked not to be sent back to Belarus, the court applied rule 39 and ruled that the applicants should not be expelled from Poland if they were indeed on the territory of Poland,” the court said. a court order.

According to one of the petitions, which concerned 32 Afghan citizens who found themselves at the Belarusian-Polish border, the court asked Warsaw to allow lawyers to access them. In some cases, the ECHR has demanded that migrants be provided with food, water, clothing, adequate medical care and, if possible, temporary shelter.

Rule 39 of the ECtHR rules provides for interim measures in the framework of a complaint on the merits of a violation of human rights. Failure to comply with these measures, the court qualifies as an obstacle to the effective consideration of the applicant’s complaint.

Let us remind you that the situation on the border between Poland and Belarus became more complicated in November, when several thousand migrants from the countries of the Middle East approached the border with Poland from the Belarusian side, wishing to move to the EU. Illegals attempted to break into the country, while they threw stones and sticks at the Polish border guards. The security forces responded with stun grenades, tear gas and water cannons. In clashes with migrants, at least nine employees of Polish law enforcement agencies were injured.

In Poland, Belarusian border guards were accused of beatings and intimidation of migrants. According to Warsaw, refugees are forced to cross the border and are not allowed to return home. The EU authorities call this migration crisis “hybrid aggression” by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.

Polish services have recorded eight deaths of migrants in Poland since the beginning of the migration crisis. This was announced in early December by the press secretary of the Polish border guard Anna Michalskaya.

Over the current year, Polish border guards prevented almost 40 thousand attempts to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border, which is 400 times more than in 2020.