On the eastern edge of the European Union and NATO, a growing humanitarian controversy is unfolding in Poland, where sweeping temporary restrictions on asylum access have left hundreds of Afghan migrants facing deportation to a Taliban-led regime that rights groups and survivors say threatens their lives. The policy, first rolled out in March 2025 as a 60-day emergency measure targeting irregular border crossings from Belarus, has been repeatedly extended by Polish authorities, creating a de facto suspension of asylum rights that has now stretched well over a year. Human rights organizations say officials are stretching the scope of the original law far beyond its stated parameters, applying it to any migrant who first entered Poland across the Belarus border regardless of where they are apprehended within the country.
Afghan migrants in Poland fear forced deportations as asylum applications remain suspended
