Is the Council of Ministers’ regulation on the temporary restriction of the right to asylum merely theoretical? According to the latest Eurostat data, applications continue to be accepted—and in significant numbers.
As a reminder, the regulation of the Council of Ministers extending the temporary restriction on the right to submit an application for international protection at the border with Belarus was published in the Journal of Laws and came into force on May 26, 2025, remaining in effect for 60 days. Prior to this extension, the regulation had already been in force from March 27 for another 60-day period.
Are Applications Still Being Accepted?
Today, a post appeared on the “Służby w akcji” profile on platform X, citing data from Eurostat (the European Statistical Agency). According to the post, “In Poland, despite the suspension currently in force on accepting asylum applications at the Belarusian border, more than a thousand applications are being accepted each month.”
It was reported that 1,550 applications were submitted in March, 1,195 in April, and 1,145 in May.
As of the end of May 2025, nearly 13,000 migrants were awaiting a decision on their asylum applications. While they are formally expected to wait in Poland for the outcome of the procedure, both open and closed reception centers lack the capacity to accommodate such numbers.
Furthermore, “overall, we are seeing an increase in the number of applications for international protection. For example, in 2023 there were 9,475 applications, while in 2024 there was a sharp increase to 16,895 applications.”