Refugees who returned to Ukraine are not allowed back to Poland

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Ukrainian refugees spoke about the difficulties of returning to Poland
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European truth
14:15, 18.08.2022

Ukrainian refugees have the right to stay in Poland for 18 months from February 24, in case of crossing the border to receive protection.



Ukrainian refugees who left Poland and returned to Ukraine will be able to legally enter Poland, the Ukrainian Embassy in Poland informed earlier. ukrayina.pl writes about it

In fact, the reality is quite different.

The final decision on the admission of a citizen of Ukraine to the territory of the Republic of Poland or refusal of entry remains solely with the Border Guard Service of the Republic of Poland, the Embassy of Ukraine in Poland added.

After the embassy's statement, experts gave a legal commentary on the statement.

If you ride from Poland to Ukraine and back every few days and spend more time in Ukraine than in Poland, the border guard may not believe that you are seeking protection from the war in Poland. So it can refuse you entry, - reports the words of lawyers ukrayina.pl

After several months of the war, the Ukrainians had no problems returning to Poland, and the border guards did not take into account the expired visa-free regime. Today the situation is different.

Even a one-time trip to Ukraine can cause the border guard to refuse to cross the border, writes ukrayina.pl

The lack of a clear regulation of the rights of Ukrainians, in the condition that Poland provides protection to our citizens, “jeopardizes” many citizens of Ukraine, who in reality need protection and asylum.

ukrayina.pl shares stories of Ukrainians who returned to Ukraine and had problems entering Poland:

On July 27, she was traveling to Poland by Kyiv-Chelm train through the Yagodin checkpoint. Was in Kyiv on business. In total, she was in Ukraine for 28 days. I have PESEL.ukr and a lease agreement for an apartment in Poland, but I don't receive any help from this state. At the border, they dropped me off the train, made me wait for 5 hours, asked in detail where I went, for what purpose, why I was going to Poland. And then they put a stamp in the passport with the mark F (exceeding the stay of 90 days within 180 days) - ed.), - says Lilia.

I left Poland for Ukraine for a few days. When I was returning, the Polish border guards said that the next time they would not let me into Poland, I needed a visa. Two other girls with similar circumstances were traveling with me on the bus. The border guards interrogated each of them and did not want to let them in. In the end, they also said that they would not allow entry to Poland without a visa, Anna shares.

Mom was driving at night from July 27 to 28 through Rava-Russkaya with an expired visa-free regime, having PESEL.ukr, - says Nadezhda Balan. - The Polish border guards categorically did not want to let her in, they noted that they needed to have Diyu.pl Mom sat in some office for a long time, explaining everything ... They said that they were only allowed in out of compassion, - says Irina.

I was on the Kyiv-Chelm train a week and a half ago, at the Polish border 12 people were dropped off the train (including me), all of them had exceeded 90 days of visa-free travel. The border guard didn't even want to listen to us, she just said to take our things and leave. Everyone (except me, because they had documents from the hospital) was sent to Ukraine, - shares Maria.

Many refugees would like to have full information about the rules for crossing the border.

The fact that border guards can decide at their own discretion who is allowed into Poland and who is not is very annoying for Ukrainians. People say: it is worth developing clear rules for movement between Ukraine and Poland: for example, within 18 months of temporary protection, you can leave 5 times in 5 days, or any other number of trips and days of stay, reports ukrayina.pl.

Despite this, Poland is taking all possible steps to resolve the situation and resolve disputes on the Polish-Ukrainian border. So, on July 23, Poland informed the European Commission about an electronic document available for refugees from Ukraine - Diia.pl It confirms their legal stay in Poland and allows Ukrainians to travel within the European Union, as well as cross its external borders.

But can you be sure that the border guards will not return you back to Ukraine even with such a document? After all, Ukrainians already had a guarantee from the embassy, which claimed that they could travel to Ukraine for 30 days and return without any problems, writes ukrayina.pl

Without exaggeration, all Ukrainians are grateful to the Republic of Poland and its citizens for the “helping hand” to the Ukrainians and the incredible contribution to the approach of victory, but unfortunately, the groundlessness of the “actions” of the Polish border guards exists today.

So while crossing the border is a roulette. Whether you are lucky or not depends on the mood of the border guards, summed up ukrayina.pl

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Oleg Kotov

Oleg Kotov writes about the war in Ukraine and how it is changing the world.