In 2025, 2,911 third-country nationals were placed in detention centres.[1] At least 1,127 third-country nationals succesfuly applied for asylum from detention. Depending on the place of deprivation of liberty, duration of detention ranged from 97 days[2] (on average) to 5 months.[3] It is not possible to estimate the length of detention for third-country nationals who were detained in more than one centre, as detention centres have separate registration systems.
As of January 2026, there are 5 detention centres. Men were placed in Białystok, (Krosno Odrzańskie has been closed for renovation since September 2024), Biała Podlaska, Przemyśl, Lesznowola and Kętrzyn. Lesznowola was used for men, unaccompanied children, families with children and single women.
Furthermore, the Border Guard placed migrants directly stopped at the Polish-Belarusian border in two of its border stations (in Dubicze Cerkiewne and Połowce),[4] defined as “centres for foreigners’ registration” (Centrum Rejestracyjne Cudzoziemców). These facilities are very similar to detention centres. The individuals held in such facilities do not have access to the Internet, computers or phones. Additionally, they cannot access legal assistance: they are left without any possibility to communicate with the outside world or leave these premises at any time. Moreover, the living conditions were very poor, with for example people sleeping in one big room on the mattresses on the floor.
On 13 August 2021, a new amendment was introduced to the Ordinance of the Ministry of Interior and Administration of 24 April 2015 on guarded centres and detention centres for foreigners. It allows the placement of detainees in a dedicated room for third-country nationals or in a residential cell, the area of which is not less than 2 sqm per person, if the following conditions are fulfilled:
- There are no vacancies in rooms for foreigners,
- Placement is for a specified period of time,
- This cannot last longer than 12 months.[5]
This regulation is still in force, despite the CPT recommending to restore the minimum standard of living space to 4 m² per detainee in multiple-occupancy rooms in guarded centres for foreigners.[6]
As a consequence of this and other factors (e.g. containers), the capacity of detention centres increased in 2025. As of 26 September 2025, 1,167 places were available in detention centres, compared to 805 as of 31 December 2024. Containers for migrants were introduced again in Lesznowola and Kętrzyn.[7] All detention centres were overcrowded.[8]
Third country nationals are obliged to pay for their stay in a detention centre. The fee is calculated on the basis of an algorithm, set out in the Act on Foreigners.
A major issue in detention centres is access to information in known languages. Migrants and asylum seekers claim that there are no interpreters present on regular basis in detention centres especially in Arabic, Pashto, Sorani and Somali, which impacts their access to information while being detained.[9] Representatives of the National Preventative Mechanism (NPM) stated that in many cases, regardless of the preferred language indicated, foreigners were given forms and statements to sign in Polish (even though they do not understand or speak it) or in another language they did not know. In addition, these documents did not state that their content had been translated orally for the person by a sworn translator. This means that they were given a form or statement to sign, the content of which they most likely did not understand. The situation described occurred regarding documents such as, among others, a statement of rights for foreigners placed in a detention center, a power of attorney to represent before a court, a notice of a court appeal hearing, or a statement waiving the right to appeal an administrative decision (see also Judicial review of the detention order).[10] Interpretation issues also largely impacted access to healthcare (see Health care and special needs in detention).
In 2024, the CPT recommended that greater efforts be made in the guarded centres visited (and, if relevant, in all other detention facilities for foreigners) to improve staff’s training in languages commonly spoken by detained foreign nationals, and in inter-cultural communication. Furthermore, the staff should be instructed to avoid using impersonal modes of communication (numbers) and address foreign nationals by their names.[11]
The CPT also recommended to review the complaints’ procedures at the guarded centres to make sure that detained foreigners are effectively enabled to send complaints in a confidential manner and are duly informed of this possibility. All written complaints should be recorded in a dedicated register.[12]
Asylum procedure in detention
According to NGOs, still in 2025 Border Guards at the border continued to ignore migrants’ requests for international protection in general due to suspension of right to asylum in 2025.[13]
According to the Office for Foreigners, in 2025 the asylum cases of migrants: (-) placed in detention, (-) unaccompanied children, (-) vulnerable, were prioritised but it does not mean that they are examined more quickly.[14] A special detention department was established within the Office for Foreigners to prioritise the cases of detained asylum applicants; the average duration of asylum proceedings in general at first instance was 5.61 months.[15]
Asylum applicants have only 7 days to present additional evidence in their case, before an asylum decision is made, which can be very difficult to provide as asylum applicants have a limited access to the internet and no access to social apps as Facebook and Skype. The interview is conducted through videoconference with a psychologist and interpreter attending either in person at the detention centre with the applicant or also online, except for unaccompanied children (see Personal interview).
[1] Letter of the Chief Commander of Border Guards as a response to request for public information, March 2026.
[2] Letter of Nadwiślański Border Guard Unit, 21 January 2026.
[3] Amnesty International, Poland: Cruelty Not Compassion, At Europe’s Other Borders, 11 April 2022, available here; Information from different branches of Border Guards; information form HFHR, March 2023; Letter of Border Guard in Bieszczadzki Border Guard Unit, 25 February 2025. Przemysl Border Guards, February 2026.
[4] RPO, ‘KMPT ad hoc visit to the Border Guard post in Narewka’, 25 March 2022, available in Polish here.
[5] Previously, the minimum was 4 sqm.
[6] CPT, Report to the Polish Government on the visit to Poland carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 21 March to 1 April 2022, 22 February 2024, available here.
[7] Information provided by Border Guards Headquaters, March 2026.
[8] Data received from Chief Commander of Border Guard as a response to request for public information no. KG-OI-VIII.0180.192.2025, September 2025 The Ombudsman ‘The issue of capacity in secure centres for foreigners. Response from the Ministry of the Interior and Administration’, 1 October 2025, available in Polish: Sprawa pojemności strzeżonych ośrodków dla cudzoziemców. Odpowiedź MSWiA’
[9] Commissioner for Human Rights, Krajowy Mechanizm Prewencji KMP.572.7.2023.KK, Raport Krajowego Mechanizmu Prewencji Tortur z wizytacji Strzeżonego Ośrodka dla Cudzoziemców w Białej Podlaskiej, 4 January 2024, available in Polish here. NPM, report 26 March 2025 from a visit in premisies of Nawal Border Guard Unit in Kołobrzeg,
[10] National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture KMPT.572.3.2025. AG Report of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture on the visit to the Detention Center and Center for Foreigners in Przemyśl, 3 September 2025, available in Polish here, 60. The visit took place in May 2025.
[11] The CPT recommends that greater efforts be made in the guarded centres visited (and, if relevant, in all other detention facilities for foreigners) to improve staff’s training in languages commonly spoken by detained foreign nationals and in inter-cultural communication. Furthermore, the staff should be instructed to cease impersonal modes of communication and address foreign nationals by their names. CPT, Report to the Polish Government on the visit to Poland carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 21 March to 1 April 2022, 22 February 2024, available here.
[12] CPT, Report to the Polish Government on the visit to Poland carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 21 March to 1 April 2022, 22 February 2024, available in English here.
[13] Information provided by HFHR, 20 January 2025.
[14] Information provided by the Office for Foreigners, 10 April 2026.
[15] Information provided by the Head of the Office for Foreigners, 2026.