Trapped, Pushed Back and Tortured: Poland’s Crackdown on Refugees at Europe’s Border

• New report from Oxfam and its Polish partner, Egala, details violence and torture facing people on the move at the Poland-Belarus border.
• The report exposes Poland’s illegal pushback policy, bankrolled by the EU.
• Oxfam and Egala is urging the EU to investigate human rights abuses and pushbacks at this European border and invest in strengthening Poland’s asylum and reception system.   

Today, Egala and Oxfam published a new report, “Brutal Barriers”, detailing the frightening and sometimes deadly journey of people trying to reach safety in Europe. Survivors’ testimonies reveal the violence inflicted by both Polish and Belarusian authorities on people seeking asylum as well as the treacherous conditions people face in crossing the swamplands of the primeval Białowieża forest. 

The report documents abuses by the Polish authorities including shooting people with rubber bullets, setting dogs on them and giving them water laced with pepper spray. There are accounts of people being detained without food or water, having their clothes confiscated and being forced to strip naked.    

Polish authorities have also forcibly pushed people back, including those in urgent need of medical care. This has included reported pushbacks of people who are unconscious or immobile, and even a case of a pregnant woman who was pushed back and subsequently suffered a miscarriage. Some have even reportedly been forcibly returned while receiving medical care in hospitals.  

“Pushbacks at the Poland-Belarus border are generalized and systemic. We continuously come across people in the forest who have been pushed back to Belarus by Polish authorities”, said Aleksandra Gulińska, Egala Advocacy Lead.    

Poland and Belarus have created a ‘death zone’ at Europe’s border. People are trapped in the forest for weeks or months, without food or water, exposed to extreme weather, with temperatures plummeting to minus twenty degrees in winter. People are unable to escape the forest as they are blocked on both sides by either the Polish or Belarusian authorities.  

Accounts from those forcibly pushed back to Belarus paint a bleak picture of what awaits them on the Belarusian side of the border. Survivors describe the conditions as ‘hell’ with reports of violence, including sexual violence, robberies, and torture - from electrocution to waterboarding to cutting off of body parts.  

“This is the ‘hell’ Poland is sending people back to, and it is sponsored by the EU,” said Sarah Redd, Oxfam Ukraine Advocacy Lead. 

Local organizations and volunteers face increasing harassment and criminalization. Last year, Poland declared parts of the border an exclusion zone, making it harder for organizations like Egala to provide life-saving assistance. Aid workers are forced to choose between helping people in need and facing the criminalization or harassment of their staff and volunteers. 

“We are among the very few who witness firsthand the hellish experience of people trying to seek safety. It’s terrifying to think about what would happen if no-one was there to help them”, said Gulińska. 

The report also documents instances where the Polish authorities forced people to sign papers renouncing their intention to seek asylum, using intimidation and physical violence.  

These reports of pushbacks are all part of Poland’s systemized pushback policy, with the latest move being a temporary block to people’s rights to claim asylum at its borders. With concerns over the escalation in Ukraine, European security sits at the top of the agenda. However, European leaders must ensure that these efforts do not include violations of fundamental human rights, as aid groups are witnessing at the Poland-Belarus border.  

“Poland has abandoned its commitments to the rule of law and to protecting people fleeing war and persecution. It has instead replaced EU law with razor wire, torture and violence, creating an illegal pushback policy funded by the EU”, said Redd.  

“The EU must stop bankrolling this pushback policy and shut down any future plans that gamble with people’s lives. The EU and European countries need to invest in an asylum system that actually works and allows people to rebuild their lives. This is not about politics – it’s about what is right”, said Redd.