EU allows countries bordering Russia, Belarus to restrict migrants’ asylum rights
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The European Union said that member states bordering Russia and Belarus could restrict migrants’ right to asylum in cases where Moscow and Minsk use them as instruments.
Talking to reporters in Brussels, Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, announced new measures allowing member states to bend EU law under certain circumstances.
“They may limit the right to asylum, but it has to happen in very strict conditions and legal limits,” she said. “[The restrictions] have to be truly exceptional, temporary, proportionate, and for clearly defined cases.”
In 2021, there was an influx of migrants to the EU member states bordering Belarus, including Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. The West accused the Minsk regime of orchestrating the migrant crisis with the aim of destabilising Europe.
Almost 4,200 irregular migrants crossed into Lithuania from Belarus that year. In response, Lithuania introduced the migrant pushback policy.
Human rights organisation Amnesty International criticised Lithuania’s policy of turning away migrants, saying it “gives the green light to push people back into torture”.
Since 2021, Lithuanian border guards have turned migrants around over 22,900 times on the border with Belarus. Some foreigners have tried to cross the border more than once.
Brussels says the number of irregular migrants at the EU-Belarus border has increased by 66 percent this year compared to 2023.
According to the EU, 90 percent of irregular migrants crossing the Belarus-Poland border have a Russian student or tourist visa.
“What we are seeing today is exceptional,” said Virkkunen.
Brussels also allocated 170 million euros for six countries with an external EU border to improve border surveillance.
Poland has taken a tough stance on migrants, including building a metal barrier on the border with Belarus and stepping up patrols.
However, rights groups accuse the police of violently stopping and turning away migrants, with some having been injured by dog bites or rubber bullets.
“Polish law enforcement is illegally and sometimes violently forcing people trying to enter the country back to Belarus, without regard for their protection needs,” Human Rights Watch said.
Meanwhile, the Finnish Parliament passed controversial legislation in July that would allow border guards to refuse asylum seekers at the border under certain circumstances.
EC President Ursula Von der Leyen said she had spoken to Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and confirmed that the EU supports Helsinki’s efforts to “boldly protect our borders”.
Photo: The Vaalimaa Customs House at the Finnish-Russian border.
