Migration Policy Centre - MPC

The Migration Working Group hosts this hybrid event about the current situation at the Polish external border.

We started the fifth month of the permanent violation of international law regarding exiled people and asylum seekers by Polish authorities. Several hundred people remain in dramatic situations hidden in the frozen wild forest – families with children trying to survive in the extreme climatic conditions – there are about twenty official cases of death among refugees, including children and women. The border zone is forbidden (emergency law), and the information about exiled persons is only partial. Official media are pursuing a dehumanization campaign using propaganda tools; the authorities control journalists, who cannot contact people seeking help. We are facing a critical situation that has no precedence in the EU.

This hybrid event will be composed of 3 parts:

A short history and the legal context of the actual humanitarian crisis and emergency law;
Field testimony by activists;
A methodological and ethical reflection on the research practices related to the humanitarian crises.

The session is organized by Fernand Braudel Fellow Izabela Wagner and includes the participation of Robert Rydzewski (anthropologist, push-back expert and activist), Ira Hnasevych (Polish organisation Legal Aid Center) and Maciej Krogel (EUI PhD Researcher, Law Department).