Ministry proposes up to three years in prison for helping illegal migrants

The Ministry of Interior and Administration is preparing amendments to the Criminal Code: helping illegal migrants could become a crime even without a profit motive. Rzeczpospolita reports this, and RMF24 cites its article.

At present, Article 264a of the Criminal Code punishes with up to five years anyone who, for gain, helps a foreigner stay in Poland illegally. Deputy Minister of Interior and Administration Czesław Mroczek proposed, in comments on the Justice Ministry's draft, adding a clause: anyone who knowingly helps someone stay in Poland illegally risks up to three years in prison. The ministry says such conduct is not punishable now, which creates a loophole for people who, under the pretext of helping migrants, facilitate illegal migration to Western Europe.

Lawyers are outraged. Radosław Baszuk, who defended activists acquitted by a district court in Hajnówka, says the provision targets not smugglers but activists and border residents who give humanitarian help to foreigners who crossed the border illegally.