Poland grants international protection to 670 Belarusians in Q1

April 20, Pozirk. Poland granted international protection to 670 Belarusian nationals in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Office for Foreigners.

Belarusians were the most numerous ethnic group among those who received protection in January–March, followed by Ukrainians (410) and Russians (50). The office issued 2,000 decisions in that period, of which 1,200 were positive.

Four hundred foreigners, including 30 Belarusians and 170 Russians, were denied international protection in this timeframe.

About 3,000 foreigners, including 1,000 Belarusians, 1,200 Ukrainians and some 300 Russians, submitted requests for international protection to the office in the three months.

Citing data from the office, the nongovernmental Belarusian Solidarity Center reported that 118,562 Belarusian nationals legaly resided in Poland on December 31, 2023.

A total of 69,399 people had temporary residence permits, 39,553 had permanent residence permits, 6,555 had additional protection, 1,160 were long-term EU residents, 578 were refugees and 436 had temporary protection. Other reasons to be in Poland were cited by 881 Belarusians.

See also: Poland investigates alleged crimes by Łukašenka regime – NAM