THE POLAND BORDER CRISIS AND THE PROBLEM OF THE “PUSHBACK”

In 2021 thousands of migrants and refugees tried to cross into the EU overland through Poland´s eastern borders with Belarus. Most of them come from the Middle East and Asia, from countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. This crisis has led border guards in Poland to force migrants back into Belarus, without assessing their asylum claims or their basic needs, where they are subjected to human rights violations such as ill-treatment, inhumane conditions, extortion and other abuses.