Press Release
Published on September 22, 2026
Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) helping migrants and asylum seekers at Poland's border with Belarus say Polish authorities continue to target them with prosecutions, interrogation and home searches. Many also face online threats, shrinking funding, and fading public attention.
Human Rights First’s new report, Borderline Harassment: Human Rights Defenders in Poland Targeted at the Belarus Border, documents these pressures, many of which come from the state itself.
“Helping someone survive a night in the forest should never land you in a courtroom,” said Brian Dooley, Senior Advisor at Human Rights First and co-author of the report. “Poland should drop the remaining cases and let humanitarian workers and lawyers into the border zone, and the EU should say so publicly.”
Human Rights First has visited the Poland-Belarus border regularly since 2021, documenting attacks on activists and observing their trials. It returned in August to meet activists and humanitarian workers in the region.
Since 2021, Belarus has encouraged and enabled tens of thousands of people, many fleeing conflict and persecution in the Middle East and Africa, to cross into Poland to create political problems for the European Union. Those attempting to enter Poland have often faced hostility and violence from Polish border guards and other security forces. Poland has also built a border fence, created an exclusion zone barring non-residents, including journalists and NGO workers, and, since March 2025, suspended the right to seek asylum at the border. The number of crossings has fallen sharply, but pressure on those helping migrants and asylum seekers continues.
Today's report focuses on the legal, political, and financial pressures facing HRDs at the border. It shows how the authorities continue to bring criminal cases against activists despite repeated acquittals. As crossings have fallen, funding for emergency work has declined, even as long-term needs persist. Activists also describe losing political allies and growing exhaustion.
"Five years on, activists and humanitarian workers are still showing up against the odds," said Suchita Uppal, co-author of the report. "With fewer people crossing, more of their work now involves helping refugees rebuild their lives in Poland, while staying ready in case numbers rise again. The international community and donors should give them the steady support and public backing they need to keep going."
The report's recommendations include ending the criminalization of humanitarian assistance at the border, restoring access to asylum, investigating threats against HRDs, and providing flexible, multi-year funding to activists and NGOs doing this work.
