Poland Pushes Sudanese Asylum Seeker Back to the Belarusian Border

Moatinoon
The Polish Border Group Grupa Granica reported on its Facebook page that a 22-year-old Sudanese man was taken by Polish border guards from the emergency department of the “Hajnówka” hospital and returned to the forest on the border with Belarus at the end of last September, despite the issuance of an interim protection order from the European Court of Human Rights prohibiting his deportation.

“They took him from the emergency department and drove him to the Belarusian forest. Later we learned that they left him there,” the Polish Border Group stated in its report on the removal of the 22-year-old Sudanese man from a hospital in the town of Hajnówka, near the border, to the forests along the Belarusian border at the end of last September.

According to the group’s report, the young man had been admitted to hospital suffering from severe exhaustion, hunger, and extreme emaciation. The last time a volunteer from the group saw him was at 12:40 p.m. The man said he could not return to Belarus, nor to Sudan because of the war, and that he had spent 40 days in the forest along the border, during which he was beaten and ate only once every four days.

Volunteer teams provided him with clean, dry clothes and basic necessities before he was suddenly taken away by Polish border guards, according to the same source.

Ignoring the European Court Order
According to the group, the young man had previously applied for an interim measure from the European Court of Human Rights, with legal assistance from the Nomada Association, a Polish non-governmental organization that helps refugees and migrants submit applications for legal protection to European courts. Once granted, such a measure prevents the state from deporting the person or subjecting them to inhuman or degrading treatment while the court examines the case.

Despite the border guards’ awareness of the application, the man was deported before the court’s decision arrived. The decision, issued later the same day, confirmed that he must not be deported to Belarus.

The group’s report stressed that “this deportation constitutes a direct violation of an order of the European Court of Human Rights.”

Volunteers expressed fear for the young man’s life as nighttime temperatures in the Podlasie region were expected to drop to around 2°C. They noted that many migrants in similar conditions suffer from hypothermia, dehydration, and untreated injuries.

The group added, “This is not the first time someone has been deported after receiving hospital treatment, but each time it makes us feel even angrier.”

“Border Guards Cover Their Faces at the Border”
The Border Group Grupa Granica also reported on Facebook, in cooperation with the Egala organization, that border guards often cover their faces during operations at the border, making it difficult to identify those responsible for pushbacks or the use of excessive force.

The border between Poland and Belarus has faced an ongoing humanitarian crisis since the summer of 2021, as thousands of migrants attempt to enter the European Union through forests and rugged terrain. According to official statistics from the Polish Border Guard, more than 60,000 attempts at irregular border crossings have been recorded since the beginning of the crisis, mostly by migrants from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen, with dozens of deaths or disappearances documented.

The Polish government has built a 186-kilometre border fence and tightened security measures, including the use of thermal cameras, drones, and police dogs. However, reports by civil society organizations continue to point to ongoing cases of pushbacks and arbitrary detention of migrants.