Despite claims that Poland will not be burdened with more migrants under the EU’s migrant pact, a top Polish legal organization tells Remix News this is simply not true and that up to 100,000 migrants could be relocated to Poland every year.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reassured people that Poland would not implement the migration pact back on Feb. 4, notes the Do Rzeczy news portal. He also said that the decision in this matter was final. He then repeated a similar position on Feb. 7 in Gdańsk in the presence of European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.
“If it occurs to anyone in Europe to consider that Poland should take on other burdens, then regardless of who says it, I will say that Poland will not implement it. End of story,” were Tusk’s words.
Ordo Iuris communications director, Olivier Bault, refuted Tusk’s claims while speaking to Remix News.
“Prime Minister Donald Tusk has repeatedly stated that Poland would not be forced to accept migrants and that the EU migration pact would actually benefit the country, given the large number of Ukrainian refugees it took in following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, under the migration pact, only the number of illegal migrants arriving in the current and previous year is considered when determining relocation quotas.
The Ordo Iuris is estimates that some 100,000 asylum seekers could be relocated to Poland every year. When asked if this number is realistic if migrant pressure continues, Bault said: “All will depend of course on the number of migrants arriving by the Southern routes, so it is a very rough estimate. But we stand by it.”
“Tusk must be aware that the Ukrainians who fled to Poland in 2022 and 2023 will have no impact on the migrant relocations set to begin next year,” Bault specifies, completely countering the assurances Tusk has given the Polish people.
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— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 9, 2024Bault further states that “migration from Ukraine is temporary and has already declined, while migration from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East is permanent and structural—trending upward, largely due to demographic factors. As a result, Poland, which has so far maintained a cautious migration policy and strict border controls, will become a relocation hub for countries struggling with migration from these regions.”
“In most cases, Poland will be unable to deport them, even if their asylum applications are denied,” Bault added.
An MEP in Tusk’s Civic Platform (PO), Janusz Lewandowski, told RMF FM just yesterday that the migration pact will enter into force in the middle of next year. Lewandowski still, however, claimed Poland will not be accepting more refugees due to the migration pressure it has faced from Ukraine, playing into Tusk’s narrative.
“The countries that gathered to block represented only 14 percent of the EU population,” the MEP said, noting the failure of the minority within the EU to stop the pact from going forward. “So the pact will come into force,” he said, adding that Poland, “as a country under migration pressure, will not accept relocations from other countries.”
The migration pact, which includes other measures, such as the simplification of procedures for returning illegal immigrants, focuses on a “solidarity mechanism,” i.e., the relocation of immigrants to all EU member states. This specifies that if a member state refuses to admit foreigners, taxpayers of that country will have to pay a fine for each one not accepted, possibly €20,000 per rejected migrant.
Late last year, Confederation MEP Marcin Sypniewski submitted a request to the European Commission, asking if due to the acceptance of a large number of immigrants from Ukraine, Poland would be exempted from the solidarity mechanism specified in the migration pact.
The response sent to the Polish MEP, as cited by Do Rzeczy, stated that Poland is “bound by all legal acts included in the Pact on Migration and Asylum, which were adopted in accordance with the EU’s commitment to developing a common asylum policy (Article 78 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) and in full respect of the principle of shared competences in the area of freedom, security and justice [Article 4(2)(j) of the same Treaty].”
Therefore, under EU law, there is no legal possibility of exempting Poland from implementing any elements of the pact, and Tusk’s promises and his party member’s repetition of his interpretation have no legal backing.
On a protest site from Ordo Iuris, the institute says the EU migration pact “introduces a regulatory paradigm that assumes that immigration is an inevitable and permanent feature of European societies” and calls on people to sign a petition to reject the pact in its entirety.
