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The UNHCR Office in Poland was set up in 1992 after the country’s accession to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol.
In 2012, 10,761 people applied for asylum in Poland including twelve unaccompanied minors and children separated from families. Polish authorities granted 106 people refugee status and 477 people complementary protection. The majority of asylum-seekers came from the Russian Federation, Georgia, Armenia, Kazahstan and Syria.
Originally, UNHCR worked with the Polish government to help set up its first centres for refugees and asylum-seekers, and to establish proper status determination procedures. As officials acquired more experience in these areas, UNHCR shifted its focus to advising and monitoring border guards, police, social workers, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and legal associations regarding asylum issues.
To ensure that asylum-seekers are able to enter Poland and have access to fair and efficient asylum procedures, UNHCR Poland sponsors a border management programme, which includes border monitoring that is conducted in cooperation with the Halina Niec Legal Aid Center. This project aims at preventing the refoulement (ie. the return of an asylum-seeker to a territory where he or she is threatened), and unjustified detention. The project also ensures that asylum-seekers arriving at borders stations have access to legal assistance and information on asylum issues, and that border guards are knowledgeable of the rights of people claiming asylum.
UNHCR Poland has carried out assessments of reception centres since 2005 with the aim of ensuring that living conditions for refugees and asylum-seekers are adequate. These field visits, part of The Age Gender Diversity (AGD) project, are conducted in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and Administration, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Office for Foreigners, provincial offices, local authorities, national police, and a wide range of NGOs.
An agreement between the Office for Foreigners, national police, UNHCR and NGOs has led to procedures to prevent sexual and gender-based violence in reception centres, and respond if such violence takes place. These procedures include specialized training for reception-centre staff, the distribution of information on this issue, and monitoring of the centres.
In order to ensure efficiency and fairness in the asylum-decision procedures, UNHCR Poland has implemented the Quality Initiative programme through the following projects: Asylum Quality Assurance and Evaluation Mechanism and Further Developing Asylum Quality.
The agency organizes seminars and meetings on asylum issues in partnership with the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw and the Refugee Board.
Because refugee integration is a high priority of UNHCR Poland, it has promoted the creation of advisory bodies, known as Teams on Integration Affairs. The agency also organizes conferences on this issue, promotes studies on the condition of refugees in Poland, and publishes information materials on methods for solving integration problems and addressing future challenges.
UNHCR Poland works closely with the Ministry of Interior and Administration, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy to promote refugee resettlement in Poland. The agency organizes studies, supports participation in relevant international meetings, and encourages projects in this area.
A major priority of UNHCR Poland is to promote this country’s accession to both the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions, and the 1997 European Convention on Nationality. To achieve this, the agency organizes seminars and conferences on statelessness, and publishes materials on nationality and the statelessness problem.
The agency’s public information activities are aimed at raising awareness in society and the media on refugees, and increasing the visibility and understanding of asylum issues within the Polish society. UNHCR Poland also conducts presentations to students specializing in asylum matters, and provides them with materials that, it is hoped, will enhance their understanding of the plight of refugees and asylum-seekers.
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