A/HRC/53/26/Add.1 as to allow international organizations to conduct in situ monitoring: as emphasized by the Special Rapporteur, States must not impose any penalty or restriction on life-saving humanitarian assistance provided by civil society organizations. 82. The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned about the legislative framework adopted by Poland allowing the practice of pushbacks, in violation of international human rights and refugee law. He recalls that, in the absence of an individualized assessment of each migrant concerned and other procedural safeguards, pushback practices always result in human rights violations incompatible with the prohibition of collective expulsion and refoulement. Domestic legislation, including legislation aimed at legalizing pushbacks, does not absolve States of their obligations under international law. 83. In particular, the Special Rapporteur is also concerned that the new legislation adopted by Poland allows authorities to disregard applications for asylum if the applicant has been stopped immediately after having crossed the border outside an official border crossing. Under international human rights law, everyone has the right to seek asylum and the denial of access to territory without safeguards cannot be justified on the grounds of any exceptional operational challenge, such as the size of migratory movements. 84. The Special Rapporteur urges Poland to review its legislation and to put an end to pushback practices, to respect fully the prohibition of collective expulsion, to uphold the principle of non-refoulement and to ensure access to asylum procedures and individual assessment of the protection needs of migrants, without discrimination, regardless of their status and country of origin. 85. Regarding the deprivation of liberty of migrants in Poland, migrants and asylum-seekers continue to be routinely placed in closed detention facilities, including migrants belonging to the most vulnerable groups, such as children, pregnant women, and persons with mental health conditions. The Special Rapporteur observed the detrimental impact that the prolonged detention and lack of information about their situation had on the mental health of those detained. Detention for immigration-related purposes should be a measure of last resort, only permissible for adults for the shortest period of time and when no less restrictive measure is available. Children and their families, on the other hand, should never be detained: the detention of any child for reasons related to their, their parents’ or their legal guardians’ immigration status never responds to the best interests of the child and always constitutes a violation of the rights of the child. With the above concerns in mind, the Special Rapporteur: (a) Urges the immediate release from detention of all unaccompanied children, children with their families, pregnant women and persons with mental health conditions to adequate care and reception facilities which are open and non-custodial; (b) Encourages relevant authorities to expand the use of alternatives to detention of migrants; projects to build new closed facilities for the detention of migrants should be halted immediately, particularly those facilities planned for the detention of families and children, instead, Poland should redivert those resources to invest in alternative reception and care centres for children, including family inclusive centres; (c) Urges the Polish Border Guard, currently responsible for almost all aspects of the operation of closed detention facilities for migrants, to consider mitigating some of its activities and to engage with specialized and independent local and international organizations that have rich experience and expertise in providing legal and social assistance to migrants. 86. In relation to the situation at the border with Ukraine, the Special Rapporteur praises the efforts and timely action of the Government of Poland and Polish society in admitting, assisting and integrating Ukrainian refugees since the outbreak of the war. Tribute should be paid to Polish citizens for opening their doors to and sharing their resources and space with their guests. Because of the kindness, generosity and solidarity GE.23-06742 17