Migrants from the Polish-Belarusian border request compensation. The prosecution agrees they're legitimate

The 3 Afghans, who illegally crossed the border with Belarus in August 2021 and were detained by the Border Guard, applied against Poland with a claim for compensation – 80,000 PLN each – for allegedly unlawful detention.

The arrest itself took place in the context of a tense situation on the Polish-Belarusian border, where Belarusian services were accused of instrumentalizing migrants as a tool of the "hybrid war" against Poland.

The Border defender made the alleged pushback, sending Afghans to the Belarusian side, but thanks to the support of border activists they did not leave Poland and went to the centre for foreigners. They presently live in Germany and large Britain respectively.

The civilian process began in 2023 before the Bialystok territory Court, but faced delays: applicants did not attend trials, court waited for legal assistance from abroad, and 1 of the men was isolated into separate proceedings. 2 of them ended on Thursday. Their attorney, Grzegorz Wilga, pointed out the aspect of fundamental rights:

“This issue should not be viewed primarily from the point of view of constitutional values and guarantees of the protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms... guaranteed not only to Polish citizens, but besides to foreigners”

In turn, a spokesperson for the Border defender requested that the suit be dismissed as unfounded .

The judges besides heard the D.A.'s position, which may surprise you. Prosecutor Joanna Bąkowska did not challenge the specified right of migrants to make a claim, but considered the requested amount of PLN 80,000 to be “inadequate to harm and excessive”. She stressed that the detention lasted respective hours, and the prisoners were in dry and warm rooms, frequently after a long, tiring road falling asleep, which she thought should be taken into account erstwhile assessing possible physical or intellectual damage.

As she said:

‘The detention lasted respective hours and this period of stay at the SG facility should be taken into account. This is what should be the subject of determining whether, at the time, applicants have suffered intellectual or physical harm from the authorities of the State."

She besides pointed out that migrants were not informed of the reasons for detention or further proceedings, which could constitute a breach of the procedures, although procedures were themselves followed.

The court's decision is due in mid-July.

This is not the only case in which courts dispute border services practices – from erstwhile cases, besides from Białystok, it was clear that administrative courts ordered the payment of court costs to foreigners for erroneous pushbacks In 1 specified proceeding, the migrant articleed that the Border defender had not examined his asylum application, although he was obliged to do so. The Afghan case sheds light on the question: can border protection at the same time respect human rights? The process shows that not all decision of border services will be uncomplainable, and the prosecution can grant foreigners the right to claim – at the same time, it puts the limits advanced on migrants' financial expectations.