As she did with Lithuania the day before (see EUROPE 12775/19), the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, urged Poland, on Wednesday 25 August, to “take immediate action to protect the human rights of people stranded at its border with Belarus”.
Ms Mijatović “firmly condemns” the attitude and actions of Belarus in encouraging its citizens to cross borders, “leaving them in a vulnerable position and creating challenges for the receiving State”. But she says that this does not justify Poland denying these asylum seekers access to fair procedures, pushing them back or leaving them stuck in a humanitarian emergency.
As a member of the Council of Europe, Poland is bound by the European Convention on Human Rights as well as the Refugee Convention and other international human rights instruments, she recalls.
Like the UNHCR, Dunja Mijatović is calling for immediate principled action, authorised access for humanitarian or legal assistance organisations and the possibility for people stuck at the border to apply for the international protection to which they may be entitled.
Link to the statement: https://bit.ly/3mwItRP (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)