- The number of irregular crossings into the EU via the eastern borders increased significantly in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
- The Finnish government has proposed to tighten its rules governing detention and entry bans.
- The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled against Hungary in three more cases related to its transit zones.
- The Polish government has adopted a new migration strategy that includes a ‘temporary’ suspension of asylum rights.
The number of irregular crossings into the EU via the eastern borders increased significantly in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. According to preliminary data that was published by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) on 15 October, the 13,195 crossings that were “detected” on the EU’s eastern borders January-September 2024 represent a 192% increase from 2023 (1,550). The large increase is particularly notable as the overall number of detected irregular crossings into the EU fell by 42% to 166,000 in the same period.
The Finnish government has proposed to tighten its rules governing detention and entry bans. The proposal, which was presented to parliament on 3 October, foresees a number of amendments to Finland’s ‘Aliens Act’, including a six-month extension to the maximum duration of detention preceding deportation (18 months rather than the current 12), a ten-year extension to the maximum duration of temporary entry bans (15 years rather than 5) and the possible withdrawal of residence permits for third country nationals who are staying outside Finland. According to a Ministry of the Interior press release, the proposed amendments would “support the Government’s objectives to tighten asylum policy”, specifically by ensuring the “efficient removal of individuals who are staying in the country illegally”, safeguarding “public order and national security” and preparing for “new kinds of situations that could jeopardise security”. The proposal comes a few months after the Finnish parliament approved the controversial ‘Act on Temporary Measures to Combat Instrumentalised Migration’ (dubbed ‘Pushback Law”) that will allow border guards to push people back across the country’s border with Russia without first allowing them to apply for asylum. ECRE member organisation the Finnish Refugee Advice Centre has published several statements about the proposed amendments to the Aliens Act and, more recently, it launched a petition in which it called for them to be abandoned. “These changes in the law significantly weaken the rights and legal protection of people seeking asylum in Finland,” the organisation wrote. It also called on people to “remind MPs that seeking asylum is never a crime” and to “demand that the detention of asylum seekers is not unjustifiably increased”.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled against Hungary in three more cases related to its transit zones. On 3 October, the ECtHR ruled that the Hungarian state violated the rights of ‘A.P’, ‘K.K.S’ and ‘M.H’ when it detained them in two transit zones. According to the rulings, A.P is an Iranian man who entered Hungary in September 2013 and was detained for more than a year in the Röszke transit zone, K.K.S is an Afghan boy who arrived in October 2017 and was detained for 82 days, and M.H is an Afghan boy who arrived in April 2017 and was detained for 86 days. AP will receive € 5,000 in just satisfaction and K.K.S and M.H will both receive € 3,000. Although the transit zones were closed in May 2020 following a ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU, the scale of the human rights abuses that took place during their almost five years of operation have resulted in numerous ECtHR rulings against Hungary. Following the third of the three rulings on 3 October, Szabolcs Miklós Sánta, who represented M.H on behalf of ECRE member organisation the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, said: “This is the 107th case that the Hungarian Helsinki Committee has prevailed at the European Court of Human Rights,” and “It is the 20th case in which the Court has condemned the blatantly unlawful practice of detention in transit zones”.
The Polish government has adopted a new migration strategy that includes a “temporary” suspension of asylum rights. The new strategy, which was formally adopted by the government on 15 October, followed an announcement by Prime Minister Donald Tusk a few days earlier that one of the elements of the new strategy would be the “temporary territorial suspension of the right to asylum”. Tusk attempted to justify the move on the grounds that Poland was following the example set by other countries. “The temporary suspension of asylum applications was introduced in Finland in May,” he wrote on Facebook, adding: “It is a response to the hybrid war declared by the whole Union (especially Poland) by the Moscow and Minsk regimes that organized mass transitions of people across our borders” and “The right to asylum is being used instrumentally in this war and has nothing to do with human rights”.
Tusk’s announcement received widespread criticism from various sources, including his own ruling coalition. “We are of the opinion that the right to asylum is ’sacred’ in international law,” said the speaker of Poland’s lower house of parliament, Szymon Hołownia. Elsewhere, Dutch member of the European Parliament, Tineke Strik X posted that the proposed suspension of asylum rights “violates EU law and endangers people who need protection”. NGOs were particularly critical of the move. In addition to describing the announcement as “a new low” for Donald Tusk, Małgorzata Szuleka from ECRE member organisation the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights described it as unworkable, saying: “It goes without saying that it is legally impossible to suspend the right to asylum”. “I read this statement purely for the purpose of national politics. It is extremely populistic,” she added. ECRE member organisation the Ocalenie Foundation X posted that neither the right to asylum nor human rights more generally were “subject to ‘suspension’” and called on the government to “present comprehensive and, above all, lawful assumptions of the migration strategy and submit it to broad public consultations”. The organisation’s call for consultation was echoed by the Halina Nieć Legal Aid Center. “We are convinced that it is possible to reconcile a wise security policy with respect for human rights guarantees, which is why we hope the government will revise its migration strategy and begin broad expert and social consultations to develop the most effective solutions in this regard,” it wrote in a statement posted on its website.
When he made his announcement on 12 October, Donald Tusk, who had previously served as president of the European Council, said that it was Poland’s “right and duty to protect the Polish and European border”. He also stated that he would “demand recognition in Brussels for this decision”. On 14 October, a spokesperson for the European Commission (EC) told POLITICO that EU member states had “international and EU obligations, including the obligation to provide access to the asylum procedure”. Commenting on the Russian- and Belarusian-led “hybrid warfare” argument that Tusk used to justify the suspension of asylum rights, the EC spokesperson said: “We need to work towards a European solution – one that holds strong against the hybrid attacks from Putin and Lukashenko, without compromising on our values”.
In addition to announcing a temporary suspension of asylum rights in Poland, Donald Tusk also restated his government’s opposition to the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum that was adopted in May. Referring to the Pact, Tusk said: “We will not respect or implement any European, or EU ideas if we are sure that they harm our security,” adding that: “no one will convince me or force me to change my mind”. Two days later, the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party called for a nationwide referendum on the Pact. Speaking to the Wnet radio broadcaster on 14 October, former defence minister, Mariusz Błaszczak, said: “We will be active, we will go out to the people, we will ask for signatures, and this is the right solution”.
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