A/HRC/53/26/Add.1 amendments have restricted the possibility for persons apprehended in the border area to seek asylum. 21. On 20 August 2021, a decree issued by the Minister of the Interior and Administration amended the above-mentioned regulation, adding new provisions allowing the removal of persons who had crossed the border outside official procedures and for the return back to the State border of persons found at border crossing points where border traffic has been suspended. 8 The decree did not provide exceptions for persons seeking international protection, thereby significantly limiting the ability of foreigners entering Polish territory in an irregular manner from applying for international protection. 22. On 14 October 2021, the Sejm passed a bill (the so-called “expulsion law”) amending the Act on foreigners and the Act on granting protection to foreigners, which entered into force on 26 October 2021. Changes made in the Act on foreigners empowered the commander of the Polish Border Guard to order the immediate detention and removal of any persons who have not crossed the border at an official border crossing. Although such removal orders may be appealed to the commander of the Border Guard, such appeals do not have a suspensive effect; as a result, orders are immediately enforceable and come with a ban on re-entry into Poland and the entire Schengen area for a period of between six months and three years, regardless of protection needs. 23. Amendments introduced to the Act on granting protection to foreigners gave the authorities the discretion to disregard applications for international protection made by foreigners who were stopped immediately after having crossed the border outside of an official border crossing, unless they arrived directly from a territory where their lives or freedoms were at risk of persecution or serious harm, gave credible reasons for crossing the border irregularly and claimed asylum immediately upon crossing the border. Migration management system 24. The Polish Border Guard, as established under the Act on the Border Guard of 12 October 1990, is a uniformed and armed formation charged with protecting the borders of the State, both on land and at sea, organizing border traffic control and preventing and combating irregular migration. It is a law enforcement and a state authority with the same powers as the police. Border guards operate throughout the whole country, not only near the border line. 25. Border guards are responsible for receiving asylum applications in Poland. Officials are responsible for filling out application forms for international protection based on the information given by the applicants. After accepting and processing such applications, the officials transmit them to the Office for Foreigners, which is in charge of assessing applications and international protection needs. 26. The Polish Border Guard is also the main institution responsible for overall aspects of all guarded centres for foreigners, namely immigration detention facilities, including their general management, administration and day-to-day operations. Whether to place an individual in open or guarded facilities during an asylum procedure is largely at the discretion of the Border Guard, although the Office for Foreigners has the power to release individuals from closed to open facilities. Judicial authorities issue decisions on the placement of foreign nationals in a guarded centre for foreigners at the request of the commanding officer of a Border Guard post or unit. The commanding officers and the courts are responsible for issuing decisions on the use of alternative measures to detention. Article 406 (1) of the Act on foreigners sets out the criteria under which the Border Guard shall issue a decision on releasing a foreigner from a guarded centre. 27. The Office for Foreigners is the competent institution for handling administrative matters related to the entry, transit, stay, residence and exit of foreigners in Poland. It also 8 6 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (10 September 2021), Opinion-No. MIG-POL/428/2021 [JB]: Urgent opinion on draft amendments to the Aliens Act and the Act on granting protection to aliens on the territory of the Republic of Poland and Ministerial regulation on temporary suspension of border traffic at certain border crossings, para. 32, available at https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/3/3/498252_0.pdf. GE.23-06742