April 16, 2025 • 4 min read time
Hajnówka, Poland – 8 April 2025 – European Lawyers in Lesvos (ELIL) submitted an urgent application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of a 17-year-old unaccompanied child who was at risk of being unlawfully deported from Poland to Belarus. Despite the Court's quick intervention and the granting of interim measures under Rule 39, the Polish Border Guards forcibly returned the child to Belarus 20 minutes after the Court’s order was issued. This represented the second time that a vulnerable unaccompanied child has been forcibly returned to Belarus since the controversial new Polish law suspending the right to apply for asylum came into effect.
On 27 March, Poland’s new law that suspends the right to apply for asylum at the Poland-Belarus border came into effect. This was despite serious concerns raised by local and international NGOs, UNHCR, the Polish Ombudsman for Children, the Council of Europe and Poland’s two national Bar Associations.
On 8 April, we were contacted by an unaccompanied child who was in hospital, having spent 10 days in the forest without access to food, water or shelter. He stated that he wanted to apply for asylum.
We took the power of attorney and informed the Border Guard that we were representing him. We explained that he was a vulnerable unaccompanied child and he wanted to apply for asylum. We were informed that he had been taken to a different hospital for a bone x-ray to determine his age.
Given the boy’s age, vulnerability and the imminent risk of unlawful deportation under Poland’s new law, we immediately lodged an urgent application to the European Court of Human Rights for emergency interim measures under Rule 39. We requested that the Court prohibit Poland from deporting him so that his request for asylum could be considered. Interim measures such as this are used in situations where there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm and the Court can order a State to take urgent steps, such as suspending deportation, while it examines the case. These measures are legally binding.
Four hours later, at 18.21, we received a positive decision from the Court and our request for interim measures was granted – the first such case in Poland under the new law. The order from the Court stated that the individual should not be removed from Poland and his asylum claim should be assessed.
Despite this – and despite numerous reassurances from the Border Guards - at 18.40 he was forcibly returned to Belarus, in violation of the Court’s order and without informing us. The Border Guards later claimed they had not seen the order and that it was now too late.
The Border Guards have not yet provided us with any documentation regarding this case, despite our requests. There is no evidence that an age assessment took place, that his case was assessed or that a return decision was issued.
This was the second such case under the new law. On 27 March, the day the law came into effect, we were contacted by an individual in the hospital. Severely dehydrated and unable to eat, having survived on nothing but muddy water for many days, he was being given emergency care by the doctors.
Whilst there, he informed the Border Guards that he was under 18 and wanted to apply for asylum. We took the power of attorney and told the Border Guards that we were representing him.
However, just five hours after arriving for treatment, the Border Guards removed him from the hospital and forcibly returned him to Belarus. This was done without informing us (as his legal representative). They claim a decision requiring him to leave the country was issued – however, despite our requests, we have not yet received a copy of this, details of any investigation regarding his age or any other information about the case.
The law says that it only applies at the border and that exceptions will be made for vulnerable individuals, including unaccompanied children and those in poor health. Despite the fact that both cases were in a hospital 25km away from the border, in serious medical conditions and under 18, the Polish authorities refused to consider their requests for asylum. The authorities disregarded their vulnerable condition, appear to have failed to assess whether they were children and forcibly returned them from a hospital considerably outside the border zone,
These cases raise serious concerns about the implementation of Poland’s new asylum law, the violation of fundamental rights and the systemic disregard for due process and legal safeguards.
“This represents an egregious violation of fundamental rights and sets a very dangerous precedent”, explained ELIL’s Managing Director, Phil Worthington. “It is shocking that we are witnessing the forced return of vulnerable unaccompanied children directly from a hospital to a country where their safety cannot be guaranteed, even though they have requested asylum and a legally binding order from the European Court of Human Rights is in place.”
These cases suggest that the new law is being used to justify blanket denial of the right to apply for asylum at the border, even to those in desperate situations. Given there is a large exclusion zone surrounding the border that lawyers and NGO workers cannot enter, we do not know how many other individuals have been summarily denied the opportunity to apply for asylum.
We are following all legal pathways to challenge the decisions in these cases and remain determined to do everything possible to ensure that individuals have access to the right to apply for asylum and seek international protection at Europe’s borders.
To help in our fight, please visit: www.elil.eu/donate