The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Felipe González Morales, has started an official visit to Poland and Belarus.
From 12 to 15 July and 21 to 25 July, he will be in Poland, assessing the situation of migrants and refugees in the country.
The expert’s visit to Belarus will take place from 16 to 20 July, and will focus on the situation of migrants at the border between the two countries.
In Poland, the Special Rapporteur will hold meetings in Warsaw, Podlaskie, Lublin and Subcarpathian Voivodeships with relevant governmental authorities, the judiciary, the National Human Rights Institution, United Nations agencies, civil society organisations, and migrants and refugees. González Morales will also assess the situation of migrants and refugees, including those refugees who fled Ukraine and those who entered from the Belarusian side of the border. He will examine the country’s current laws, policies and practices, and their impact on the human rights of all migrants.
The expert will visit Poland’s border areas with Belarus and Ukraine, border crossing points, border guard posts, registration and processing centres, asylum reception centres, immigration detention facilities, including those for children and families, as well as other temporary reception facilities.
The Special Rapporteur will cross the land border to Belarus, where he will meet with Belarusian governmental authorities, United Nations agencies, civil society organisations and migrants in Grodno and Minsk. He will share his preliminary observations and recommendations with the authorities in Belarus on Wednesday, 20 July.
At the end of his visit to Poland, González Morales will share his preliminary conclusions and recommendations with the authorities in Poland on Monday, 25 July.
