Reporting Organisation

We Are Monitoring (WAM)[1] is a civil society organization dedicated to documenting illegal pushbacks and rights abuse on the Poland-Belarus border. Established in December 2022, WAM is part of the Border Violence Monitoring Network and Grupa Granica coalition. Interviews are conducted online with interpretation in respondents’ native languages, using a standardized questionnaire to collect both quantitative data (e.g., dates, locations, injuries) and qualitative narratives. All data is anonymized in line with ethical research and internal data protection standards.

Border Violence Monitoring Network[2] (BVMN) is a coalition of organisations working to document illegal pushbacks, collective expulsions, and police violence along the EU’s external borders in the Western Balkans, France, Greece, Poland and beyond. The collection of data on illegal pushbacks and police violence is done by a consortium of independent field experts who are part of or cooperate with humanitarian support groups united through the Border Violence Monitoring Network.

Pushback of Migrant Women and Girls as a Violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Explanatory note:

‘Pushback’ is a common term to denote the action of State representatives forcibly and in most cases collectively returning individuals seeking protection to another country in an irregular/informal manner and subsequently preventing or restricting them access to protection mechanisms.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Migrants[3] has recognized that the use of pushbacks is so widespread that it exists along most migration routes and represents “an entrenched prejudice against migrants”. The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances[4] affirm that the use of pushbacks is reflective of a “dehumanising border governance” practice that can directly contribute to the disappearance of migrants. The use of pushbacks has also been recognized in previous cycles of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.[5] as something actionable under the mandate of the Committee.

Evidence of Women and Girls Being Subjected to Pushbacks in Poland:

Between October 2021 and March 2025, a total of 11,810 pushbacks from Poland to Belarus were reported by 6,641 survivors. These survivors, who requested support from CSOs operating in the region, recalled patterns in which they were often subjected to multiple repeated or sequential pushbacks.

Of the 6,641 survivors who provided testimonies of pushbacks to CSOs operating in the region between October 2021 and March 2025, 472 pushback survivors were women or girls.

Within this period, We Are Monitoring also directly documented 146 detailed pushback accounts that also affirm how there has been clear and consistent evidence of women and girls being subjected to pushbacks, which we affirm demonstrates that such abuses are both widespread and indiscriminate:

  • In 2023, We Are Monitoring collected 62 testimonies of pushbacks from Poland to Belarus. Of the total pushback documented, 18 pushbacks were of women and girls.
  • In 2024, We Are Monitoring collected 50 testimonies of pushback from Poland to Belarus. Of the total pushbacks documented, at least 12 pushbacks were of women and girls.
  • To date, in 2025, We Are Monitoring has so far collected 34 testimonies of pushbacks from Poland to Belarus. Of the total pushback documented at least 14 of them were of women and girls.

Pushback Modus Operandi:

Most documented instances of pushbacks from Poland to Belarus follow a consistent pattern, despite variations in individual cases and involve individuals entering Polish territory by crossing a 5.5-metre-high steel wall, topped with razor wire and equipped with an electronic surveillance system, including cameras and motion sensors. The physical structure of the border deterrence system, such as the use of concertina razor wire[6] placed on top and at the bottom of the first border fence, raises serious concerns that it is deliberately designed to inflict harm[7].

Once apprehended on the Polish side, individuals are typically either first taken to the Border Guard facility or forced directly back into Belarus, where they have no access to food, water, medical assistance, or shelter in the border zone. Numerous testimonies indicate that at any point of the apprehension, individuals are commonly subject to additional violence, including the use of tear gas, physical assault, threats, and forced movement. Conditions at the border also amount to inhuman or degrading treatment. In winter, reported abuses include the forcible removal of clothing and prolonged exposure to cold water, snow, or frozen ground, resulting in severe physical suffering. In summer, individuals report being held in direct sunlight without access to water.

A particularly cruel and degrading practice described by multiple interviewees involves forcibly separating groups during pushbacks, with individuals, including women and minors, being expelled alone or in pairs, several kilometers apart, often in swampy areas. Phones are often destroyed, a practice since recognized by the UN CED as contributing to the concealment of the disappearance of migrants and individuals are deprived of provisions, increasing their exposure to danger and isolation and, in the case of women and minors, heightened risk of sexual violence.

It is important to emphasize that the entire border fence is constructed on Polish territory. The land immediately to the east of the barrier—at least 1.8[8] meters wide—remains within Poland’s sovereign jurisdiction and legal responsibility.

In addition to the documentation efforts of We Are Monitoring, a range of other NGOs and human rights watchdogs have also reported on women being subjected to pushbacks from Poland.

  • Between November 2022 and November 2024, MSF received 410 requests for intervention and provided care to 442 individuals, with women and children comprising nearly one-third of patients with the youngest being three years old. MSF points out that the border fence prevents the most vulnerable from accessing protection and assistance. One-third of patients sustained injuries from climbing or falling from the border fence in 2024, mainly from razor wire deep cuts. The border fence is preventing vulnerable individuals, particularly women and minors (60 percent of those requesting assistance), from accessing needed protection and medical care. They remain stranded on the eastern side of the fence at risk of violence and declining health.[9]
  • In March 2025, Oxfam[10] together with Polish organisation Egala, released a report on the “violence and torture facing people on the move at the Poland-Belarus border” which outlined the systematic denial of the right to asylum, including through the use of pushbacks, and documented how women, including pregnant women, were among those subjected to such practices.
  • In December 2024, Human Rights Watch[11] released a report on “brutal pushbacks” at the Polish-Belarus border, which uncovered how of the 22 asylum seekers interviewed, 17 had experienced at least one pushback by Polish border officials in 2024 before successfully entering Poland and being allowed to apply for asylum. The report also documented the heightened level of violence experienced by pushback victims/survivors, which included lengthy beatings for ‘about an hour’ leaving one woman to barely be able to stand.
  • Eleven freedom of information requests submitted to Nadbużański Border Guard Unit and Podlaski Border Guard unit yielded evidence concerning pushbacks of 416 women and 246 children between January 2022 and December 2024[12].

Furthermore, in their official mandates, multiple UN Special Procedures have submitted formal communications to the State party regarding pushbacks, and the mistreatment of migrant women and children by Polish authorities.

    • In September 2023, three mandate holders submitted formal communication[13] to Poland regarding the denial of access to assistance and protection of 31 individuals, originally from Afghanistan, who are allegedly stranded at the border between Poland and Belarus and subject to dire living conditions. The communication outlined how within this group, there were 4 women and 1 girl, with the State party being reminded of its obligation to act within the best interests of the child.
    • In January 2022, four mandate holders submitted formal communication[14] to Poland which outlined how the mandate holders had received information as to how “Polish border guards, police and army officers have reportedly forced the migrants back into the forests on the Belarusian side. As a result thousands of migrants are reportedly in the forests now, without adequate shelter, food, clean water, sanitation facilities, warm clothes, and access to medical care. This includes pregnant women, families with young children and people with disabilities. Reportedly, at least 19 persons have died in the forests, including two children”.
    • In March 2022, six mandate holders submitted formal communication[15] regarding the “situation of migrants and asylum seekers, including families and children, who have reached or attempted to reach Poland through its border with Belarus” stating of particular concern the “ongoing reports of alleged pushback practices conducted by the Polish Border Guard, sometimes violently, since the beginning of the humanitarian emergency last August”.

Torture, Ill-Treatment and Abuse of Women and Girls during Pushbacks a Violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Explanatory Note:

We Are Monitoring have consistently documented testimonies that recall intentional and lengthy violent attacks against women and girls during pushbacks that we affirm would amount to torture. In addition, We Are Monitoring has also consistently documented ‘non-typical forms of torture and ill-treatment’ such as the denial of free access to medical assistance and the denial of food or water, which has been found by decisional bodies to amount to torture or inhuman and degrading treatment.

Due to the consistent documentation of the severe abuse and ill-treatment of migrant women and girls during the pushback process, we assert that the use of torture and ill-treatment has become both an intrinsic part of the pushback process and is now indistinguishable from State policy.

Evidence of Torture and Ill-Treatment:

Between October 2021 and March 2025, We Are Monitoring recorded at least[16] 1664 individuals who reported that their pushback was characterised by heightened levels of violence, including the use of excessive and disproportionate force and the refusal to process claims for international protection.

A further examination of recent testimonies between January 2023 and March 2025 recorded by We Are Monitoring has shown that of the 146 accounts of pushbacks, nearly all of them included accounts of additional physical and verbal violence being used during pushbacks, which we affirm could amount to torture or ill-treatment. Of the 146 accounts between January 2023 and March 2025, there were a few exceptions where no information was provided on the conduct of Polish border services during pushback or, in 2 cases, when the pushback happened at the Terespol border crossing in plain sight and thus the violence was less.

Through individual testimonies, as collected by We Are Monitoring, the full extent of the torture and ill-treatment migrant women and girls are subjected to as part of pushbacks can be demonstrated.

    • In the winter of 2025, We Are Monitoring documented the pushback of a group of eleven individuals, including one woman, from Poland to Belarus. According to the respondent, one man sustained a severe injury after jumping from the top of the border fence—his leg was visibly broken, with the bone protruding through the skin. Despite his injury, he was reportedly grabbed by Polish border officials and forcibly thrown back through the gate into muharrama. The remaining members of the group attempted to flee but were apprehended. The respondent describes that they were forced to lie face-down while four masked officers stomped on their backs. Each person was then individually pulled up into a standing position and beaten, including direct blows to the face. One man suffered a jaw injury after being kicked on the side of his face with a heavy military boot. All members of the group, including the woman, were subjected to invasive searches. While the gender of the masked officers was not identified, there is no indication that any female officer was present during the search. The respondent confirms that the woman in the group was subjected to the same physical abuse and degrading treatment as the men, highlighting the indiscriminate nature of the violence.
    • In the summer of 2024, We Are Monitoring documented the case of a 14-year-old unaccompanied boy who experienced multiple pushbacks from Poland to Belarus, each involving physical violence. In one of the incidents, he was apprehended among a group of eight people, including two women. All were subjected to beatings with tree branches, tear gas exposure, dog intimidation, and unsafe transportation conditions prior to pushback.
    • In autumn 2024, We Are Monitoring documented a case involving three women and eleven men who were apprehended shortly after crossing the border wall. Upon capture, they were sprayed with tear gas, placed in vehicles, and had their shoes and outer clothing confiscated. Their phones were destroyed, and they were sprayed with tear gas again before being thrown into Muharrama. According to the respondent, the physical effects of the gas exposure persisted for ten days.
    • In autumn 2024, We Are Monitoring documented the case of two unaccompanied minor sisters, aged 15 and 17. The 17-year-old respondent reported experiencing three pushbacks from Poland to Belarus between August and November 2023. During one of them, the sisters were forcefully separated. During the events of November, the 15-year-old was suffering from bronchitis and was exhausted after spending two weeks in the forest. After being spotted by a drone and apprehended by both Border Guard and military personnel, the girls made clear requests to remain in Poland and begged for hospital care. One of the masked officers held a long gun to the respondent’s face, and another threatened them with beatings. The respondent attempted to escape but dropped her phone and lost a shoe. She was pepper sprayed and forced to continue barefoot, despite her pleas. At the border marker 368, the respondent began crying and begging for medical help for her sister. She also sat down in an attempt to resist being pushed back. As the respondent speaks very little English, she repeatedly used the word ‘help’. When they refused to cross voluntarily, officers sprayed them with tear gas. No food or water was provided by either the military or border services at any point. After the pushback, another officer—according to the respondent, guarding one of the military constructions on the Polish side—threw them a bottle of water. He reportedly communicated that he could not help them and recommended they look for a doctor on the Belarusian side. Following the pushback, the 15-year-old was bitten by a dog. The respondent was not bitten, as the dog was called off by the Belarusian guard. The younger sister had been severely weakened by prolonged exposure. She was later hospitalised in Belarus and remained in a coma for twelve days.

Deaths of Women as a Result of Pushbacks and Border Violence as a Violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Introduction:

Since autumn 2021, at least 97 people have died on both sides of the border, including at least ten women and four individuals of unknown identity and gender. At least four of these women are known to have been subjected to pushbacks prior to their deaths. Additionally, activists received four accounts describing the deaths of women, but were unable to verify them. Among this group, at least one woman is also known to have been subjected to a pushback.

Information about deaths in Poland comes from Polish authorities, media, and activists, while deaths in Belarus are reported by migrants to activists and by Belarusian authorities through official channels. These sources often corroborate each other, with migrants frequently providing additional details about the deceased.[17]

Data on migrant deaths is collected by the Border Death Monitoring Group (BDMG), an informal collective working in cooperation with the We Are Monitoring association. The group’s goal is to collect, verify when possible, and document migrant deaths along the Polish–Belarusian border.

Deaths in the ‘Muharrama’: Belarusian militarized zone:

Across the reporting period, the Border Deaths Monitoring Group have recorded 28 incidents of people dying in the ‘Muharrama’ – the stretch of land between the Polish and Belarusian border fences to which many migrants have been pushed back to. Of these 28 deaths in the Muharrama 5 have been of women. In addition, there has been 1 incident in which the gender of the deceased has not yet been identified, and one woman who died in the hospital after crossing the border.

  • In April 2024, Polish civil society organisation Granica Group received information on its emergency line about the death of a woman. The woman had died of starvation two days earlier in ‘Muharrama’, on the eastern side of the border barrier between Poland and Belarus[18].
  • In 2023, a Kurdish woman died in a Belarusian hospital after six days spent in the border zone. She was buried in Syria, It’s believed she experienced at least one pushback from Polish territory[19].
  • In December 2022, a 30-year-old Syrian woman died on the Belarusian side while accompanied by her father. According to information from the Belarusian Border Guard, they had reportedly been pushed back from Poland earlier, despite the woman’s poor health[20].
  • June 2022, a 50-years-old woman died close to the Polish border, on a height of Usnarz Górny village. Information on her death was reported by her son[21].
  • In November 2021, a Syrian Palestinian died in a Belarusian forest. At least once she managed to get to Poland, but despite chest pain and problems with breathing and movement, she had been pushed back from Poland. After the pushback, she tried to return from Belarus to Syria, but the Belarusian authorities did not allow her to do so[22].
  • In the middle of September 2021, a woman died of hypothermia in a Belarusian forest after several days of illness. Earlier, despite reporting her breathing problems to border guards, the entire family had been pushed back from Poland. After her death, husband and children (who accompanied her during crossings, returned to Iraq, where they buried the woman[23].

Available data on migrant deaths in Europe significantly underrepresents the actual number of fatalities. Due to the clandestine nature of irregular border crossings and the limited attention given by authorities and media to migrant deaths, many cases remain unrecorded and unknown.[24] This is illustrated by the gap between the 97 confirmed cases of migrant deaths at the Polish-Belarusian border (as of the date of this report) and approximately 50 additional cases reported by the migrants that could not be independently verified.

Deaths at the Świsłocz River

Across the reporting period, the Border Deaths Monitoring Group have recorded 7 incidents of people have died or whose bodies have been found in the Svislach river that marks the border between Poland and Belarus, of which testimonies have demonstrated that people on the move have been forced to swim across[25] whilst being pushed back by Polish authorities. Of these 7 incidents documented, 1 of the deceased has been identified as female. The body of Livine Solange Njengoue Nguekam, a 44-year-old Cameroonian woman, was found on 16 February 2023 near Ozierany, alongside the body of her presumed companion. As her body was retrieved from the Polish side of the river, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Suwałki is leading the investigation into her death.

Deaths on the Polish territory

A 38-year-old Kurdish woman was hospitalized in Hajnówka on November 12, 2021. She was 24 weeks pregnant and had advanced hypothermia. In the hospital, it turned out that she also had acidosis. She was on the move with her family: her husband and five children aged 8 to 16. She had a miscarriage two days after being admitted to the hospital. Without regaining consciousness, she died of multiple organ failure on the evening of December 3, 2021.

In February 2023, a 28-year-old Ethiopian woman crossed the Polish-Belarusian border with a group of other migrants. When her health deteriorated and she was unable to continue walking, the group decided she would remain in the forest while they went to a nearby town to seek help. According to the migrants, police and Border Guard officers who arrived at the scene ignored the information about the woman left behind and pushed the group back to Belarus. The officers reportedly conducted only a limited search. Her body was found on 12 February by activists contacted by the group.

The case is being investigated by the District Prosecutor’s Office in Suwałki under Article 155 of the Polish Penal Code (involuntary manslaughter), as well as Article 231, which concerns the failure of public officials to fulfil their duties. The Polish Commissioner for Human Rights has also requested clarification from the police. One of the woman’s companions filed a complaint[26] regarding his pushback despite declaring his intention to apply for international protection. On 30 May 2023, the Provincial Administrative Court in Białystok found the pushback unlawful.[27]

In January 2023, the remains of a woman were found near Czerlonka. She was buried as unidentified in the cemetery in Białowieża.

Unsafe Treatment of Pregnant and Post-Natal Women by Public Authorities as a Violation of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Explanatory Note:

According to Article 12.2 of the CEDAW Convention, the Polish State is expressly obligated to ensure the provision of “appropriate services” to women during pregnancy, confinement, or the postnatal period, with a stipulation that these services should be offered free of charge where necessary. Moreover, the state is mandated to supply adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation. We assert that the actions of the Polish State are inconsistent with this Convention when women who are pregnant or in the postnatal period are subjected to pushbacks and inhuman treatment at the border. More broadly, the harsh conditions in the border zone — including low temperatures, lack of access to hygiene (which increases the risk of infection), malnutrition, food poisoning, physical injuries, stress and violence — significantly increase the risk of miscarriage.

Evidence of Unsafe Treatment of Pregnant and Post-Natal Women:

Between October 2021 and March 2025, We Are Monitoring registered 27 cases of pushbacks of pregnant women.

    • In 2022 and 2023, Granica Group registered 9 cases of women who experienced pregnancy loss.  A Congolese woman reportedly lost a pregnancy following a violent pushback by Polish Border Guard officers, who allegedly threw her over the border fence. According to Grupa Granica reports, at least one additional miscarriage may have been directly caused by a pushback. Belarusian authorities also reported a miscarriage following a pushback in October 2021.
    • In July 2024, We Are Monitoring documented a pushback from Poland to Belarus of 15 individuals from Afghanistan and Iran, including a pregnant woman. According to the respondent, who was separated from the pregnant woman and pushed back separately, the woman began to miscarry during the intervention by Polish border services and was subsequently taken to an unspecified medical facility. After the miscarriage was completed, she was pushed back to Belarus where he remained in contact with her.
    • In May 2024, We Are Monitoring  documented a pushback from Poland to Belarus of two women from Ethiopia and Eritrea. The respondent and her pregnant companion were subjected to a search right next to the border fence, and subsequently pushed back, while the third woman who was travelling with them was taken to a medical facility. The respondent expressed fear of the border services, stemming from her experience of five previous pushbacks, during which she was pepper sprayed. She reported that her pregnant companion begged for asylum, visibly showing her pregnancy, but was nonetheless pushed back. This woman had already been pushed back eight times prior to this incident. Both women were ultimately returned through an area referred to as “the swamps,” where the respondent sustained a leg injury.

Sexual Assault, Harassment and Abuse during Pushbacks as a Violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Explanatory Note:

In addition to pushbacks being a violation of the Convention, We Are Monitoring and BVMN also recognises how the systematic pattern of ill-treatment, including the use or threat of sexual violence against women during pushbacks and as their direct consequence, also places Poland in direct variation with its obligations under the Convention. Multiple testimonies from both women and men provide compelling evidence of the widespread sexual abuse to which women and girls are subjected in Belarus, both by border authorities and smuggling networks. The practice of separating individuals during pushbacks endangers women and girls in particular leaving them alone in the militarised border zone where they can likely suffer from violence, including gender based violence and sexual violence[28] Furthermore, we assert that the conduct of Polish border officials towards female migrants and refugees, namely sexual assault, forced undressing’s and body searches carried out by male officers involving the inappropriate touching of women violates Polands Convention obligations under Article 1.

We also recall that Article 2 of the Convention requires that states take ‘all appropriate measures to modify or abolish existing practices which constitute discrimination against women.’ Accordingly, it has been recognised that a failure to address the specific needs of migrant women and girls and to ensure their respectful treatment constitutes a violation of this Article[29]. As such, we maintain that the Polish authorities have violated Article 2 of the Convention, where it has failed to ensure that the conduct of Polish authorities is in line with the obligations under the Convention.

Lastly, We Are Monitoring and BVMN notes that these Convention violations are even more serious considering the significant and additional vulnerabilities female migrants and refugees face, especially whilst in transit. Through individual testimonies, as collected by We Are Monitoring, the extent of the sexual assault, harassment, and abuse migrant women and girls are subjected to as part of or as a direct consequence of pushbacks can be demonstrated.

In the summer of 2024, We Are Monitoring documented the testimony of a man from Yemen or Syria who reported being forcibly taken by Belarusian authorities to one of the military camps in the border zone, often used to detain migrants prior to pushing them toward Poland. He described his shock upon entering as he witnessed a group of people sitting on the ground showing clear signs of severe beating and stripped naked. Among them, he recognized a woman he knew and a 14-year-old boy from Sudan. He also describes a woman from Algeria who was harassed by Belarusian officers in front of the group. The woman was subjected to physical abuse, invasive searches, and degrading language by the authorities.

In spring 2023, We Are Monitoring documented the case of a woman who was subjected to a pushback from Poland to Belarus. According to the woman’s testimony, after crossing the border into Poland, her husband was taken aside by border officials and severely beaten with rifle butts, fists, and boots. Following the arrival of two military-style vehicles (Jeep-type) carrying more officers and other apprehended individuals, the woman was separated from her husband. She reports being dragged by force into the bushes by the three officers who had initially detained them. After shouting something at her they reportedly pulled down the lower part of her clothing. One of the officers inserted his hand into her vagina and took a roll of money she had hidden in there. Subsequently all three officers raped her vaginally. She mentioned that her memory of the event is fragmented as her mind has suppressed many of the details due to trauma. Someone placed a foreign object into her vagina; she suspects it was meant to stop bleeding caused by the rape. The woman related that she did not scream or resist, as she was paralyzed with fear after witnessing the beating of her husband. The officers threw her clothes at her and forced her to dress herself in a rush, tearing them in the process. She was then taken to a Border Guard facility, where she was allowed to wash and managed to take photographs of her injuries.

In January 2024, We Are Monitoring documented the case of a Somali woman who spent a total of 15 days in the forests of Poland and Belarus. She crossed into Poland with a group of individuals but was later separated from them. When apprehended by Polish border guards, she attempted to escape but was stopped, beaten with a baton, and verbally abused. She was then aggressively searched by male officers without a female present. When ordered to undress, she could not unbutton her cardigan due to stress, and the piece of clothing was ripped off her by one of the guards. In the interview, she stressed that he did it not to help but in an aggressive manner, and she repeated twice that the person who searched her was a man. Her phone was confiscated and destroyed. Despite expressing a desire to apply for asylum and fear of being pushed back, she was taken to a vehicle. Due to the considerable length of the drive, she believed she was being taken to a reception center. However, when she saw the border fence, she panicked and held on to the metal gate to resist pushback. She was then pepper sprayed and pushed with force alone into the Muharrama so hard that she fell to the ground on the other side of the metal fence.

In Autumn 2024, We Are Monitoring documented a pushback of 11 people mostly from Ethiopia. The group included a woman who was pushed or forced to jump from the border wall by Belarusian officers and two others, who were unable to cross the fence. She was immediately caught by the Polish services. Despite sustaining a leg fracture, she did not receive medical assistance. She was sprayed with tear gas and, unable to walk, had to be carried by her companions to the Border Guard vehicle, then to the station, and finally through the designated “pushback gate. Prior to the pushback, she pleaded with Polish Border Guard officers not to return her to Belarus, citing her experience of rape while in Belarusian custody. Her appeal was ignored. Additionally, two other women in the group, who had been unable to cross the barrier, were subjected to sexual assault attempts by Belarusian state actors in Muharrama.

In January 2025, We Are Monitoring documented pushback of a woman from the Central African Republic. She was pushed back from Poland to Belarus three times. She provided a detailed account of one of the incidents that occurred in August 2024. After being violently forced over the border wall by Belarusian soldiers, she was injured and unable to walk. She spent two days alone in the forest without food, water, or a working phone. Eventually, two passers-by called the Polish Border Guard. Two uniformed officers, a man and a woman, took her to a border guard station, where she spent one day and was given food and water. Her phone was destroyed while in detention. She explicitly told the officers she could not return to Belarus due to sexual violence she had previously experienced there. She was handed documents she did not understand, and told to sign them, believing she would be taken to a refugee camp. Instead, she was handcuffed and pushed back into Belarus at night near border post 417, in a swampy, forested area. Only one side of the handcuffs was removed, leaving her to free herself alone in the dark.

Suspension Of the Right to Seek Asylum as a Violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Introduction:

On March 26, 2025, the Polish President signed an act amending the Act on granting protection to foreigners within the territory of the Republic of Poland[30]. It introduced the mechanism allowing for the temporary and territorial suspension of the right to apply for asylum in cases of so-called “instrumentalization of migration” by ‘other states’. Such a “suspension” would be enacted through an ordinance issued by the Council of Ministers, a legal act of lower rank than a statute. The relevant regulation was published one day later, on 27 March. The legislation’s territorial scope is unclear. It exempts the following categories of individuals provided that direct coercive measures or weapons had not been used against them:

    • Unaccompanied minors;
    • Pregnant women;
    • Individuals who may require special treatment, particularly due to age or health conditions;
    • Individuals whom the Border Guard determines to be at risk of serious harm in the country[31] from which they arrived directly onto the territory of the Republic of Poland.

Women are not exempt from the regulation. Girls or boys- excluding those travelling alone – are not either. As part of several issues raised by CSOs, legal organisations[32] and the Legislative Offices of Sejm[33] and Senate[34] concerns were raised about the arbitrariness of decisions made by rank-and-file officers who would be decision-makers on the health of people affected by pushbacks. Another point made was that, Border Guard does not have competencies to verify whether a woman is pregnant, especially but not exclusively during an apprehension in a forest and in cases of early pregnancies[35].

Evidence:
Cases dealt with by NGOs and activists show arbitrariness and inconsistency in the application of the law. This is particularly true when it comes to the protection of vulnerable groups, primarily those requiring “special treatment due to age or health” (including women requiring special treatment). From the very first day the new regulations came into force, NGOs recorded pushbacks of people immediately after their discharge from hospital and the refusal to allow people to cross the only active border crossing between Poland and Belarus (Brest-Terespol), despite the fact that they had documented experiences of torture and their lives and health were at risk both in Russia and in the Russia-subordinate Belarus[36].

On 29 March 2025, the third day after the new law came into effect, Piotr Czaban, an activist and journalist, recorded a case of a Guinean citizen with a five-month-old child being refused entry to Poland[37].

An interim measure was issued by the European Court of Human Rights for two individuals who had repeatedly attempted to seek international protection at the border crossing in Terespol, including a woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo. On 15 March 2025, the Court ordered Poland to allow the individuals to remain in Poland until 12 May 2025 (Case No. 11258/25). On the same day, both appeared at the border crossing in Terespol with the ECHR decision and documentation proving that they belonged to one of the groups exempt from the suspension. Despite that, they were returned to Belarus.

 

[1] We Are Monitoring, n.d. Methodology. Available at: https://wearemonitoring.org.pl/en/about-us/

[2]Border Violence Monitoring Network. n.d. About Us. Available at: https://www.borderviolence.eu/about/

[3] OHCHR. (2021). Report on Means to Address the Human Rights Impact of Pushbacks of Migrants on Land and at Sea: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants. A/HRC/47/30.

[4] Committee on Enforced Disappearance: General comment No. 1 (2023) on enforced disappearance in the context of migration. CED/C/GC/1.

[5] CEDAW/C/GRC/CO/8-9

[6] M. Edwards, A bloody method of control’: the struggle to take down Europe’s razor wire walls, The Guardian, 2020.

[7] Medecins Sans Frontieres(2025), Trapped between borders: the life-threatening consequences of increased militarisation at the Poland-Belarus border, pg. 5

[8] Oxfam International (2025). Trapped, Pushed Back and Tortured: Poland’s Crackdown on Refugees at Europe’s Border. Available at: Trapped, Pushed Back and Tortured: Poland’s Crackdown on Refugees at Europe’s Border | Oxfam International

[9] Medecins Sans Frontieres (2025), Trapped between borders: the life-threatening consequences of increased militarisation at the Poland-Belarus border, pg. 7-9.

[10]  Oxfam International (2025). Trapped, Pushed Back and Tortured: Poland’s Crackdown on Refugees at Europe’s Border. Available at:

https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/trapped-pushed-back-and-tortured-polands-crackdown-refugees-europes-border

[11] Human Rights Watch (2024). Poland: Brutal Pushbacks at Belarus Border Border Guards Use Force, Deny Access to Asylum Procedures. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/12/10/poland-brutal-pushbacks-belarus-border

[12] Pushbacks in Poland can be carried out on the basis of two legal instruments: 1. The Border Ordinance: Ordinance of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration of 13 March 2020, concerning the temporary suspension or restriction of border traffic at designated border crossings (specifically: § 3(2b)), and 2. Return Decisions: Issued under the Aliens Act, pursuant to Article 303b in connection with Article 303(1)(9a). According to the FOI responses of Nadbużański and Podlaski Border Guard Units the data in 2022-2024  is only disaggregated based on gender in case of pushbacks carried out based on the latter.This means we do not have information on the number of women and girls pushed back based on the Border Ordinance of March 2020.

[13] Communication to the Government of Poland, 5th September 2021 (Reference: UA POL 5/2021). Available at: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26636

[14] Communication to the Government of Poland, 24th January, 2022. (Reference: AL POL 1/2022). Available at:  https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26975

[15] Communication to the Government of Poland, 30th March, 2022. (Reference: AL POL 3/2022). Available at:  https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=27151

[16] The quantitative number of pushbacks and additional violence inflicted during the events is based on operational data which often does not provide the information about the circumstances of pushback but only about its occurence. The actual proportion of pushbacks characterised by excessive violence is believed to be much higher.

[17] See methodology: n.d. https://wearemonitoring.org.pl/en/list-of-the-deceased/

[18] Account, cf. Border Deaths Monitoring Group – BDMG, List of Border Deaths,

List of the deceased

[19] https://archive.ph/EX5Dx, cf. Border Deaths Monitoring Group – BDMG, List of Border Deaths, https://wearemonitoring.org.pl/en/list-of-the-deceased/

[20]https://bialystok.wyborcza.pl/bialystok/7,35241,29307097,koszmar-na-granicy-polsko-bialoruskiej-smierc-30-letniej-syryjki.html, https://t.me/gpkgovby/2569

[21] https://archive.ph/LPI40, cf. Border Deaths Monitoring Group – BDMG, List of Border Deaths, https://wearemonitoring.org.pl/en/list-of-the-deceased/

[22]https://bialystok.wyborcza.pl/bialystok/7,35241,27879443,kryzys-na-granicy-polsko-bialoruskiej-w-szpitalu-w-hajnowce.html, cf. Border Deaths Monitoring Group – BDMG, List of Border Deaths, https://wearemonitoring.org.pl/en/list-of-the-deceased/

[23] https://archive.ph/LRp0C, cf. Border Deaths Monitoring Group – BDMG, List of Border Deaths, https://wearemonitoring.org.pl/en/list-of-the-deceased/

[24] See: IOM, Missing Migrants Project, www.missingmigrants.iom.int; Ocalenie Foundation (2024), No Safe Passage. Migrants’ deaths at the European Union-Belarusian border.

[25] https://hfhr.pl/upload/2023/09/the-lawless-zone.pdf

[26] Helsinki Foundation For Human Rights, Available at: https://hfhr.pl/aktualnosci/prosil-o-pomoc-dla-umierajacej-towarzyszki-podrozy-zostal-wywieziony-do-bialorusi

[27] Communication of the Ombudsman’s office. Available at: https://bip.brpo.gov.pl/pl/content/rpo-etiopka-granica-smierc-prokuratura-policja-bialystok-kgp-odpowiedz

[28] ‘We Are Monitoring (2024), I said ‘I want to stay in Poland’ but they pushed me back,.

[29] General Recommendation No. 32 on the Gender-Related Dimensions of Refugee Status, Asylum, Nationality and Statelessness of Women, Para. 34

[30] The Act of June 13, 2003, on granting protection to foreigners within the territory of the Republic of Poland (Journal of Laws of 2025, items 223 and 389).

https://www.gov.pl/web/udsc-en/restriction-of-the-right-to-make-an-application-for-international-protection.

[31] This country is not explicitly specified, but it is most likely assumed to refer only to Belarus, disregarding the close cooperation between Belarus and Russia.

[32] Opinions can be found here: https://www.sejm.gov.pl/Sejm10.nsf/druk.xsp?nr=924 [accessed 17.05.2025].

[33] https://orka.sejm.gov.pl/zapisy10.nsf/0/497638CD4EC8F2C0C1258C3F0042C167/%24File/0133910.pdf

[34] Opinia do ustawy o zmianie ustawy o udzielaniu cudzoziemcom ochrony na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, 6.03.2025, https://www.senat.gov.pl/download/gfx/senat/pl/senatekspertyzy/7305/plik/272o.pdf

[35] See: We Are Monitoring (May 2025), Suspension of the right to seek asylum in Poland and its immediate effects, https://wearemonitoring.org.pl/en/suspension-of-the-right-to-seek-asylum-in-poland-and-its-immediate-effects/

[36] Also see: We Are Monitoring (2025); April, https://wearemonitoring.org.pl/en/report/

[37]See:https://bialystok.wyborcza.pl/bialystok/7,35241,31866300,zabezpieczenia-etpc-i-rozporzadzenie-rzadowe-nie-maja-znaczenia.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawKVimVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETExM3hFcUxhVnpNZTljWERjAR5ce6buYLAloK5K2tZTPJGx3viEMSNmFeRonJ41-UVgB_94Js0sgQQ0fg2H_w_aem_mJN7By-WjkUZnFhG9TC41A