Poland rejects most asylum applications from Belarusians in July

In July, only 14 Belarusians received international protection in Poland (ten were granted refugee status, four — subsidiary protection). Negative decisions were issued on 82 applications by Belarusians for protection. This is stated in the report of the Polish Office for Foreigners.

It was previously reported that in June, 52 negative decisions and 25 positive decisions were issued on applications from Belarusians.

In total this year, Belarusians have received 165 refusals of international protection. The office says that positive decisions were issued in 79% of cases. Since the beginning of the year, 246 of our compatriots have received refugee status and 376 — subsidiary protection.

Polish officials explained that refugee status is now granted more often because applications are being submitted by people who have documented evidence of their political persecution in Belarus. Previously (2022–2024), most applications were based "on a general systemic threat to the country, which gave migrants the right to subsidiary protection."

Polish officials attributed the larger number of negative decisions on applications to stricter scrutiny: "The increase in the number of refusals (165 in 2026 alone) is related to significantly stricter review of applications by the Office for Foreigners. Applications are rejected in relation to those who attempt to use the refugee status procedure solely for economic purposes or who cannot demonstrate a real risk of persecution upon return to their country."