Issues Related to Refugee and Migrants Rights, Immigration Enforcement and Detention CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION II. DETENTION CONTEXT III. CONCERNS & RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO CONVENTION PROVISIONS I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Association for Legal Intervention (Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej, or SIP) is a Warsaw-based civil society organisation that promotes the legal equality of all people, with a particular focus on refugees and […]
Poland
Poland: Detainees Hold Largest Hunger Strike To-Date; Poles Called To Vote on Refugee and Migrant Policies
Between 5 and 9 September, immigration detainees in Poland’s Przemysl detention centre (Guarded Centre for Aliens) held a hunger strike against “arbitrary detention” and their prolonged detention in the centre. Taking place against a backdrop of growing anti-migrant rhetoric in the run up to the country’s October elections and referendum, this was the largest collective […]
UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW: Immigration Detention in India, Morocco, Poland, South Africa
In March, the GDP worked with partners in four countries—Poland, India, South Africa, and Morocco—to prepare submissions for the 41st Session of the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR). […]
Foreign nationals held under aliens’ legislation (from report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture 2022 visit to Poland)
1. Preliminary remarks; (Read full CPT report) 25. The border crisis between the European Union and Belarus, which had begun in the summer of 2021, saw thousands of people, mostly from the Middle East, trying to enter the European Union through Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland from neighbouring Belarus. In response to an unprecedented increase in […]
Joint Submission to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Preparation for its Visit to Poland
The submission highlights concerns regarding Poland’s discriminatory detention practices of non-Ukrainian refugees, inhuman and degrading conditions in “Guarded Centres for Foreigners,” abuses of non-citizens on the border with Belarus, and the country’s increasing detention of children for migration purposes. […]
POLAND: Joint Submission to the Universal Periodic Review
41st Session of the UPR Working Group, 7-18 November 2022 Issues Related to Immigration-Related Detention and Asylum This submission focuses on human rights concerns relating to Poland’s treatment of migrants, refugees, and people seeking asylum, including its use of immigration detention. This submission is made taking into account the millions of refugees who have crossed into […]
Poland: Covid-19 and Detention
According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, as of January 2022 there were 1,675 people in detention centres across the country (with 972 persons in detention centres for families and the rest in those for men). The Red Cross reported that they had distributed hygiene kits, including personal protective equipment, […]
Poland: Covid-19 and Detention
The escalating crisis on the Belarus-Polish border has spurred a growing number of countries to accuse Belarus of weaponizing migrant and refugee movements, using them as pawns to destabilise the European Union. At the same time, there is growing international outrage over Poland’s response to the situation–as well as that of other countries that border […]
Poland: Covid-19 and Detention
Poland has experienced important reductions in the number of arriving asylum seekers since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: in 2020, there were 2,803 asylum applications, compared with 4,096 in 2019. According to the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, as of 1 January 2021, there were 1,319 persons holding valid residence cards for refugees, […]
Immigration Detention in the European Union
This book offers a unique comparative assessment of the evolution of immigration detention systems in European Union member states since the onset of the “refugee crisis.” By applying an analytical framework premised on international human rights law in assessing domestic detention regimes, the book reveals the extent to which EU legislation has led to the adoption of laws and practices that may disregard fundamental rights and standards. […]
