Poland has refused entry to a record number of 52,000 people along its eastern borders over the last eighteen months, with 83 percent of the incomers Chechens of Russian citizenship.
“The main reason that thousands of foreigners are being turned back at the eastern border is the lack of visas or residence permits for Schengen countries,” said Agnieszka Golias, a spokesman for Poland’s border guard service. “They often present fake invitations from Polish firms, or do not have enough money to stay in the country,” she added.
Meanwhile, since January, Poland’s Office for Foreigners has received 14,000 applications for asylum from people trying to enter Poland’s eastern border. In 2008 and 2009, Poland gave over 3000 Chechens either refugee status or the similar status of “subsidiary protection.
” However, over the last three years the numbers have dropped significantly, and Poland has given about 600 Chechens protected status in the three years since. Those whose applications are rejected can remain in Poland to appeal against the decision at asylum seekers’ centres in cities such as Bialystok, north east Poland.The aftermath of war The collapse of the Soviet Union led to two separatist wars in Chechnya, and since 2007, it has been ruled by Moscow approved leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
Although the insurgency was largely stamped out by 2009, scattered groups of partisans are still active, and hundreds of thousands were displaced by the conflict. Human rights groups, including the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, have accused Kadyrov of brutal repressions against those sympathetic to rebels.
Source: PAP - Polskie Radio -nh
http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/151100,Poland-struggling-with-Chechen-migration