19 June 2025
Report on the repression of refugee rights actions at the Polish borders. Published June 2025 by Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and Kolektyw Szpila.
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"The authors describe the mechanisms of criminalizing migration, and repression used against those providing support to migrants in the Polish-Belarusian border area starting 2021. By analyzing both the local context and the changing legal framework of the European Union, the authors show how actions taken by the state – including the introduction of new provisions, state officers’ interventions, and criminal proceedings – contribute to criminalization of solidarity. The report opens with a discussion of legal bases for criminalizing migration and humanitarian aid in the context of the so-called Facilitation Directive which may intensify the repressive measures applied at the borders of the EU. The following chapters present judicial decisions of Polish courts, cases of repression against those supporting migrants, and the activity of anti-repression groups. These are complemented by an analysis of how these processes impact the community and the public, exposing their multi-faceted character as a cluster of legal, media-driven, economic, and political aspects."
Full report: Criminalizing Solidarity: Report on Anti-Repression Efforts (pdf)
Contents:
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