There are two types of detention centres in Poland, both used for detaining asylum seekers and foreigners subject to return procedures, namely guarded centres and so-called rigorous detention centres.
All detention centres are for migration-related purposes and the Border Guard is in charge of their management. Asylum seekers are never placed in regular prisons with ordinary prisoners but are detained together with migrants in an irregular situation in a guarded centre or rigorous detention centre. There is no special facility where only asylum seekers are detained.
The design and layout of some of the centres create the impression of a prison-like environment: thick walls, bars in the windows (Krosno, Białystok, Przemyśl)[1] and on the corridors. In addition, all centres are surrounded by high walls topped with barbed wire.[2]
Guarded centres
Until August 2021, there were 6 guarded detention centres in Poland, which were destined to different demographics: Lesznowola, Białystok, Przemyśl, and Krosno Odrzańskie were for men. Women, married couples, and families with children were placed in Kętrzyn, Biała Podlaska (closed for renovation, re-opened at the end of 2021)[3] and Przemyśl. Unaccompanied children were placed in the detention centre in Kętrzyn.
Due to the situation at the Polish-Belarusian border, the number of guarded detention centres increased to 9 (opened in August 2021) and the number of places there increased to 2,256 (compared to 595 in 2020, 494 in 2019, 590 in 2018 and 608 in 2017). Additionally, the profiles of detentions centres changed several times. As of December 2022, the maximum capacity of detention centres was of 1,152 places.[4]
The detention centre in Biała Podlaska (which was in the open centre) was closed in June 2022. The detention centres in Wędrzyn and Czerwony Bór – in August 2022.
In 2023 the profiles of detention centres were changed. Families with children and unaccompanied children are placed only in centre in Lesznowola.
Detention centres for foreigners are located in:
| Centre | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||
| Capacity | Occupancy at end of year | Capacity | Occupancy at end of year | Capacity | Occupancy at end of year | Capacity | Occupancy at end of year | |
| Biała Podlaska | 130 | 0 | 188 | 0 | 130 | 74 | 130 | 103 |
| Biała Podlaska (adopted open centre) | 200 | 152 | 0 | 0 | – | – | ||
| Białystok
Czerwony Bór |
122 | 40 | 141
147 |
134
122 |
159
0 |
155
0 |
159
– |
57
– |
| Lesznowola | 73 | 38 | 192 | 147 | 392 | 158 | 200 | 48 |
| Kętrzyn | 120 | 69 | 478 | 392 | 220 | 48 | 137(10) | 129 |
| Krosno
Odrzańskie Wędrzyn |
64 | 39 | 80
700 |
74
612 |
80 | 79 | 80
– |
80
– |
| Przemyśl (guarded centre) | 86 | 62 | 145 | 81 | 147 | 131 | 147[5]
|
131 |
| Przemyśl (Arrest for Foreigners) | 37 | 23 | 24 | 8 | 24 | 9 | ||
| Total | 595 | 248 | 2,308 | 1,737 | 1,152 | 535 | 877 | 509 |
Source: Border Guard, 1 February 2022, 29 March 2022, 25 January 2023, 7 March 2023, 12 February 2024, Headquarters 21 March 2024.
According to the Border Guard, there is a possibility to change a room upon justified demand, depending on availability.[6]
In 2023, the number of migrants and asylum seekers hosted in the centres were as follows: 543 in Bialystok, 425 in Biala Podlaska, 524 in Lesznowola, 490 in Ketrzyn and 321 in Krosno.[7] The average stay in detention centre in Przemyśl was 5 months, in Ketrzyn 102 days and in Lesznowola 86 days (95 days at the beginning of the year and 87 days in the middle of a year).[8]
Polish authorities removed bars from the windows in some detention centres and installed special secure windows in Lesznowola, Kętrzyn and Biała Podlaska (in a reopened detention centre).[9]
“Rigorous detention centres” (areszt dla cudzoziemców)
The term, literally translated as “arrests for foreigners”, replaced that of “pre-removal centres” as of 1 May 2014. These facilities impose more rigorous conditions of detention than guarded centres.[10] At of the end of 2023, there were 24 places in Przemyśl for men and women.[11] The building is single unit with a separate entrance.[12] The facility is covered by video surveillance that includes residential cells, public areas and the outside area 24 hours per day.[13]
An asylum seeker can be placed in a more rigorous detention centre for foreigners only if there is a risk that they will not obey the rules in force in a guarded centre or the applicant has already disobeyed these rules.[14] These detention centres are more prison-like than guarded centres. An asylum seeker placed in such a centre cannot freely move around (he or she is closed in the ward). In practice, it means that foreigners have to stay in a cell for most of the day and have limited access to additional activities. The asylum seekers have limited access to the internet and the phone. They have to knock at the door to be taken to the toilet, in some cases having to wait for a long period of time.[15]
According to the Commissioner for Human Rights, sanitary and living prison-like conditions are not sufficient and not meeting the provisions of the international standards of the rights of persons in administrative detention.[16] The facility needs urgent renovation works. One of the problems was the lack of sanitary corners in the cells. Therefore, individuals who stay there for a couple of months have to call an officer every time they need to use the toilet. In the case of high occupancy in the facility, this can result in prolonged waiting times to deal with physiological needs.[17] The living cells are permanently monitored and furniture items are permanently fixed to the floor.[18]
Persons detained have a right to use two walking yards, twice a day by one hour. On the other hand, in the opinion of the representatives of the Commissioner, health condition of foreigners placed in this facility was justifying their release from detention. Furthermore, there were, among others, 6 Afghan nationals, who were previously not placed in detention centre for foreigners.[19]
The Commissioner also pointed out that the very mode of placing foreigners in rigorous detention raises concerns. The risk that a foreigner may not adhere to the rules of their stay is considered to be a sufficient ground for placing in this type of facility. However, the concept of “risk” is vague. If it does not have to be assessed on the basis of the facts of a specific case, it may lead to abuse of detention.
Previously, the KMPT analysed court decisions on the detention of foreigners in the Guarded Centre and Detention Centre for Foreigners in Przemyśl. It was found that, in some situations, sufficient arguments for doing so – bypassing the guarded centre – included crossing the border in violation of the law, lack of documents or the assumption that Poland was supposed to be a transit country for the foreigner. And it did not appear from the documentation that the persons actively resisted arrest or demonstrated in any way that they would not comply with the regulations of the guarded centre. According to the Commissioner, the risk of non-compliance with the rules of stay in a guarded centre should be real and examined on a case-by-case basis, based on the specific attitude and behaviour of the foreigner.[20]
[1] Commissioner for Human Rights, BIURO RZECZNIKA PRAW OBYWATELSKICH, Krajowy Mechanizm Prewencji KMP.572.6.2023.MD, Raport Krajowego Mechanizmu Prewencji Tortur z wizytacji Strzeżonego Ośrodka i Aresztu dla Cudzoziemców w Przemyślu available in Polish at: https://bit.ly/3UMMId2.
[2] Information BG, Przemyśl 10 March 2023, Krosno 3 March 2023.
[3] Information of the Border Guard Headquarters, 4 March 2022.
[4] Information from BG Headquarters, 25 January 2023.
[5] Since 1 February 2024 – 93 places in detention centre in Przemyśl.
[6] Information provided by the Border Guard in Krosno, 23 February 2024.
[7] Information from Border Guards in Krosno, 23 February 2024.
[8] Information from Boder Guard in Przemyśl , 5 March 2024.
[9] Information provided by Border Guard, 5 February 2021.
[10] Order No 23 of the Ministry of Interior of 1 July 2014 on the designation of areas in which the arrest for foreigners is executed.
[11] Commissioner for Human Rights, BIURO RZECZNIKA PRAW OBYWATELSKICH, Krajowy Mechanizm Prewencji KMP.572.7.2023.KK, Raport Krajowego Mechanizmu Prewencji Tortur z wizytacji Strzeżonego Ośrodka dla Cudzoziemców w Białej Podlaskiej available in Polish here: https://bit.ly/3UMMId2.
[12] Information provided by the Border Guard, 14 and 25 January 2019.
[13] Information provided by BG, 10 March 2023.
[14] Article 88a(2) Law on Protection.
[15] Commissioner for Human Rights, BIURO RZECZNIKA PRAW OBYWATELSKICH, Krajowy Mechanizm Prewencji KMP.572.6.2023.MD, Raport Krajowego Mechanizmu Prewencji Tortur z wizytacji Strzeżonego Ośrodka i Aresztu dla Cudzoziemców w Przemyślu available in Polish: https://bit.ly/3UMMId2.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Commissioner for Human Rights, Cudzoziemcy zbyt łatwo trafiają do aresztu – zamiast do ośrodka. Wystąpienie do MSWiA, Foreigners are too easily taken into custody – instead of a centre. Submission to the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, February 2023, available in Polish at https://bit.ly/42n27ly. Commissioner for Human Rights, BIURO RZECZNIKA PRAW OBYWATELSKICH, Krajowy Mechanizm Prewencji KMP.572.6.2023.MD, Raport Krajowego Mechanizmu Prewencji Tortur z wizytacji Strzeżonego Ośrodka i Aresztu dla Cudzoziemców w Przemyślu available in Polish at: https://bit.ly/3UMMId2.
[19] Commissioner for Human Rights, Visit in detention centre in Przemyśl, available at: https://bit.ly/3pm3PSA.
[20] Commissioner for Human Rights, Cudzoziemcy zbyt łatwo trafiają do aresztu – zamiast do ośrodka. Wystąpienie do MSWiA, Foreigners are too easily taken into custody – instead of a centre. Submission to the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, available in Polish at https://bit.ly/42n27ly, NPM, Report on a visit in arrest in Przemysl, 30 January 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3NI3nel.