The Polish government in October announced a new migration strategy that aims to reduce the number of migrants and tighten control over immigration processes.
The strategy also includes a temporary suspension of asylum applications in case of direct security threats.
The lower house of parliament on Thursday approved those plans in a 386-38 vote with no abstentions, state news agency PAP reported.
The measure now goes to the Senate, the upper house of Poland's parliament, for further debate.
If passed by both houses of parliament and signed by the president, the legislation will allow the Polish government to suspend the right to seek asylum for a period of up to 60 days along specific sections of its border.
Extensions beyond this period could be authorised with parliamentary approval and renewed indefinitely.
Exceptions would be made for vulnerable people, including unaccompanied children, pregnant women, those who require special treatment due to their age or health, and anyone who can “unequivocally prove they are at risk of suffering serious harm” if returned to Belarus.
The legislation has been criticised by human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch (HRW), according to reports.
Lydia Gall, senior Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, has said that Poland, which currently holds the EU presidency, "should lead by example and ensure that people fleeing war and persecution are given the opportunity to have their asylum claims individually assessed."
Gall also said that the controversial bill "flies in the face of Poland’s international and EU obligations and should be voted down."
The measure "risks formalizing ongoing unlawful and abusive pushbacks" at Poland’s border with Belarus, according to the HRW.
"It would expose people to abuses and inhumane conditions in Belarus, in violation of the principle of nonrefoulement, which prohibits returns to a country where people may face torture or inhumane or degrading treatment," the HRW said.
It noted, however, that Belarus in 2021 "began facilitating visas to third-country nationals and encouraging, even forcing, their onward travel to Poland."
The Polish government says the authority to suspend the right to asylum is necessary because of the instrumental use of migrants by Belarus and Russia.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk this month reiterated his opposition to the European Union's migration pact, saying that his government would not implement any provisions requiring it to accept migrants identified in other European countries.
European Union leaders in October expressed solidarity with Poland over migration challenges, saying that Russia and its ally Belarus cannot be allowed to exploit European values, including the right to asylum.
Tusk told reporters at the time that "more European leaders have come to realise that current approaches, including the migration package, are not the right response to the threat posed by mass illegal migration."
Tusk said in April last year that Poland would not agree to the EU's relocation mechanism for migrants, despite its approval by the European Parliament.
Poland and the EU have accused Belarus and Russia of deliberately sending migrants from the Middle East and Africa to the Polish border.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP