Deported Despite Protection: Afghan National Removed to Afghanistan After ECtHR Intervention

On 10 April 2026, several Afghan nationals were deported from Poland to Afghanistan. Among them was a client represented by ELIL.

The deportation followed a route from Poland to Georgia, then onward to Uzbekistan, before the men were ultimately placed on a commercial flight to Kabul.

The case took place against the backdrop of increasing concerns regarding Poland’s treatment of people seeking protection after crossing the Poland-Belarus border. Human rights organisations and international bodies have repeatedly warned that recent legislative changes risk denying individuals access to an effective assessment of their protection needs.

An Urgent Application to the European Court

The day before the deportation, information emerged that several Afghan nationals held in detention centres were scheduled for removal.

After a member of parliament visited the detention centre in Biała Podlaska, the list of deportees was shared and lawyers and civil society organisations began preparing urgent requests for interim measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court of the European Court of Human Rights.

ELIL only learned on the morning of the deportation that one of the men being removed from the detention centre in Białystok was our client. Once his identity was confirmed, we immediately prepared and submitted an urgent application to the Court.

The Court subsequently granted an interim measure in his case.

Authorities Were Informed Before the Deportation

The interim measure concerning our client was issued approximately one and a half hours before the deportation departed.

The decision was immediately communicated through several channels. Lawyers, activists and Members of Parliament attempted to ensure that the authorities responsible for carrying out the deportation were informed without delay.

According to information provided by independent deportation monitors present during the operation, Border Guard officers were also directly informed of the Court’s decision before the deportation proceeded.

Tomasz Sieniow, who was monitoring the deportation as an authorised NGO representative, later reported that he personally informed officers about the interim measure shortly after it had been issued and showed them a copy of the Court’s decision.

According to his account, officers stated that they were waiting for confirmation through official channels and for instructions from their superiors.

The Deportation Continued

Despite the interim measure and repeated attempts to alert the authorities, the deportation was not suspended.

According to accounts from those monitoring the operation, approximately one hour before departure all participants in the deportation were instructed to switch off their mobile phones. This reportedly included Border Guard officers. Communication with the outside world was effectively cut off during the final stage before take-off.

The men were subsequently flown to Georgia, transferred onward through Uzbekistan, and ultimately deported to Afghanistan.

By the evening of 10 April, our client had been placed on a flight to Kabul.

Conflicting Accounts

Following media coverage of the case, the Border Guard suggested that the interim measures had not been received in time to prevent the deportation.

However, information gathered by lawyers, parliamentarians and independent monitors indicates that the authorities were aware both of the pending application and of the Court’s subsequent decision before the deportation was completed.

The circumstances surrounding the case raise serious questions about the effectiveness of safeguards intended to protect individuals facing removal and about compliance with interim measures issued by the European Court of Human Rights.

What Happens Next?

The case raises important questions not only about this individual deportation, but also about the practical ability of people facing imminent removal to obtain an effective remedy before irreversible harm occurs.

At ELIL, we continue to support individuals facing deportation through legal representation and emergency legal interventions where necessary. We will also continue working to identify planned removals as early as possible, so that people at risk of deportation have a genuine opportunity to access legal remedies before irreversible decisions are carried out.